The Silent Glances
by kirei chime
Summary: This is my first attempt on writing Shingeki no Kyojin fanfic. Set in an alternate universe... in the modern setting that we can relate to. How would each of our young chara look if they were high school students? (More on EreMika OTP, with slight ErenxAnnie, and MikasaxLevi) Rated M for Levi's language, ahahahah.
1. Chapter 1

Maria Rose Shina High School.

Three friends were seated at the back by the window. A guy and a girl pulled their chairs towards the table of their guy friend who was busy listening to some music in his mobile phone. The blonde guy who had pulled his chair, was busy explaining the mathematical equation that was on their math assignment, but it seems the dark-haired guy was nowhere listening. The blonde was too engrossed with his explanation as he was looking at his notes that he did not notice his friend.

"Eren," the girl with black short hair calmly called her friend's attention in that gentle voice of hers. "Eren."

Armin, the blonde guy, stopped explaining. Eren took off an earbud from his right ear and looked at Mikasa, the girl who called him. He had raised his eyebrows and asked, "Hm?"

"You weren't listening to Armin," Mikasa told him.

And Armin told his friend, "Gee, Eren, you should do well this time. I have heard that Levi-sempai is not very patient when it comes to Math remedial classes."

"I am listening! Besides, I have the two of you," Eren rationalized.

Armin replied, "Yeah, we can teach you, but the teachers always turn their students over to Sempai for Math."

"Was that even in the students' handbook? I bet it isn't there, is it?" Eren scoffed. "I can skip his remedial classes and have you teach me—"

But he wasn't able to finish because Mikasa stood up and pinched Eren's nose very hard.

"Itai! What was that for?" he shouted at his girl friend.

Mikasa looked at him with her blank gaze, "Eren, are you even listening to yourself? Are you not ashamed? Uncle Hannes will surely not give you allowance anymore if you laze again with your studies."

The mention of Uncle Hannes' name provoked some emotions inside Eren. Mikasa had been an orphan since nine after her parents were murdered in front of her. And Eren saved her from the day, and giving his red scarf to her when she felt cold. But a year later, in their humble village, there was a huge ruckus when armed men (they say, some mafia), harassed the village while finding people in their list who owe money to their boss. Carla Jaeger, who was hanging wet clothes along the clothesline, was shot without mercy. The men were just doing their rampage with gusto even though they had a list of people who they were looking for. And Eren and Mikasa saw it with their own eyes. Old Hannes, who was not drunk at that time, came running in and saw the dead Carla. He pulled the kids inside the house and hid them there. And when everything was done, Hannes prepared for Carla's funeral.

Despite all that, Eren's dad, Grisha Jaeger, was nowhere to be found. No one could tell his whereabouts.

And it came to pass that Hannes took the children under his care. Hannes was a very rich old man who could just trade stocks for fun anytime he likes, while investing in real estate in other places in Japan. He was a heavy drinker, and Mikasa once told Eren not to be like him. Despite being a drunkard, Hannes was very kind to the kids, and even gave them their own condominium unit in his condo building when they entered middle school. Hannes did not tell the kids to go get some after school jobs to pay for their living. He was going to provide for them until university. His only stipulation was that they do well with their studies so when they find a job, they can pay their own expenses, as well as pay for their condo unit with their own money. He said, they can leave after college, but he was always free to accept them should they come back. His stipulation was simple, but it seems that growing up as a teenager, Eren had a hard time keeping that promise.

He could not afford to lose his allowance too, for it was Mikasa who was holding their lunch money. The thought of not having his allowance was one thing he could not accept. So, he has to study.

"All right, I'll make good with this," Eren said in resignation.

He turned off his playlist and listened attentively to Armin. Mikasa eyed Eren silently and reached for his hand to hold. Both guys turned to her with curious eyes. Eren's eyebrows knitted, and he removed his hand, and he retorted at her, "What's the matter with you again, Mikasa? Are you guilty that you talked to me with that almighty air of yours? Are you even sorry that you pinched my nose?"

"Eren...I..."

Mikasa only meant well. She did not raise her voice. She just pinched his nose and talked some sense. But no matter what she does, Eren always gets angry at her.

"Stop nagging at me as if I am your child or your baby brother!" Eren told her brusquely.

Armin looked at the two with amusement. It was extensively obvious that Mikasa wore her heart up her sleeves, but Eren could not even see that. And Eren was being childish again. Was he just angry because Mikasa made him study?

"Ah... guys, please don't fight," Armin said. "Eren, Mikasa is only concerned with you and your grades. So, don't pick a fight, huh?"

Eren fidgeted as he looked at Mikasa, who turned her gaze away in pain.

"Hey... I'm sorry, Mikasa," he softly told her. "I'm sorry for getting angry."

Mikasa turned to him, held his hand, and squeezed it tenderly. "Daijoubu... Let's continue to study, okay?"

Armin smiled as he watched the sweetness in front of him. He just watched Eren nodding nonchalantly before turning back to the notes. How come this guy is just so dense? Even Sasha could tell even though she had her heart on her snacks. Even Connie could tell.

Their other classmates did not take some fancy on the little argument at the back. Jean was arguing with Ymir again after Ymir tried to show off the fanciful nail art that Krista had done on her own fingernails. Connie was getting in between the two because Ymir would not back out with a nice boxing match with Jean. Reiner and Bertholdt were being punished by Sasha, who received the packs of snacks from them. And as usual, the other class punk, Annie, was nowhere to be seen.

Some of the students were discussing rumors about a sempai's scientific breakthrough which could bring honor and pride to the school. Hange Zoe was not the typical girl that you know in school, for she is rather eccentric, like her godfather, Dot Pixis, who was also one of the members of the school board.

"Hange-sempai is gonna make her own type of biofuel, so I've heard," one said.

"Hontou?" another said.

Just then, the world stopped when the door slid open. Everybody turned around to see an older woman who was panting like a tired elephant.

"I need someone for my experiment," Hange announced.

"Eh?"

"Someone who can produce fart," the sempai continued.

Seeing this as a chance to avenge themselves, Reiner and Bertholdt pointed at Sasha.

"Oh! Finally, a volunteer!"

"Eh?" Sasha gasped in horror.

"She farts a lot!" Reiner the bully sneered.

Hange stepped inside the classroom like a maniac. Sasha backed to the wall in fear, but Hange smiled at her as her glasses glistened.

"Your fart is the most needed for my biofuel experiment!" the sempai said while pulling the kouhai along.

"Help!" Sasha cried as she dropped her snacks. "Hey! My potato chips!"

But no one dared help her because humanity's future was more important than Sasha's potato chips, and humanity could very well make use of biofuel.

"Fart, huh?" one said. "Sasha's gonna be a fart factory, after all."

The three friends, meanwhile, were also distracted from the sudden commotion. Armin smiled at his friends and told them that they need to continue with the math assignment.


	2. Chapter 2

Hange was laughing maniacally as she grabbed her two test tubes filled with blue-green boiling liquid of unknown origins. Sasha was "tied" to the chair, and she was fearing for her dear life. She didn't want to die. She had lots of potatoes to eat! If only somebody could help her...

"Oy, Four-eyes!" a monotonous voice boomed along with the sudden opening of the door.

Hange and Sasha turned around to see a short guy with sleepy eyes and clean-shaven face. The sides of his hair were also shaven anew, and Hange knew that the guy usually have haircuts when he would be attending something fanciful. Some party, perhaps?

"Oh, Levi! Come in!" Hange greeted without taking her hands off the test tubes. "Have a seat, and be my guest."

Levi Ackerman, the math genius sempai that everyone was talking about, came in and looked at the seated Miss Blouse.

"Why are you torturing a first year student?" Levi asked for an explanation as he turned his attention back at Hange.

"W-well, you see, I have to help mankind!" Hange spoke up dramatically, while giving out an empowered and passionate speech about saving the world and preventing climate change.

Levi divided his attention between listening to his classmate speak to getting his mobile phone to text someone. He and Hange have ambitions of developing ideas that will impact people on a global scale. That would be his ambition in the future, but not for now. He wanted to help mankind too, but that is through mathematics. While he's a realist, Hange's ideas were ridiculous.

And he sent the damn message.

"Were you listening, Levi?" Hange asked in enthusiasm.

"Must _I_ listen?" Levi asked sharply. "I just sent a message to your brats not to give you dinner this evening."

"My brats, what?!" Hange panicked. By brats, Levi was referring to Sawney, the butler, and Bean, the cook. They were Hange's favorite people to slave in the mansion, and Hange was a very spoiled girl who could do damage to anyone she pleases. Like a cat who can play with his humans like a ball of yarn. "How could you?"

"And how could you, too?" Levi replied, his voice rising up a pitch or two. "You are abusing a first year student to your own satisfaction, and you are messing up with that damn table! Did I just see a hole made by your acidic concoctions?"

"But this is the science lab, after all, ahaha," Hange laughed. "I can do as I please."

"Sempai, please help me," Sasha whimpered to Levi. "I can't fart anymore."

"Hear that, Four-eyes?" Levi asked the pseudo-scientist. "You are making this brat fart. What if she s**ts on her underpants? You gonna take responsibility for that? Huh?"

Hange smiled at looked at the scared student. "Gomen ne, Sasha-chan."

But Sasha was already speechless with fright. She did not want to be a fart factory, after all.

"If that brat Arlert did not report to me, who knows what's gonna happen to this brat?" Levi said as turned on his heel to grab Sasha by the arm. "You are to stop this experiment now and find other sources for your biofuel!"

"Eh? Please don't take my subject away!" Hange pleaded.

"There are lots of banana peels in the large garbage bins outside," Sasha murmured. She knew that Reiner eats banana every single meal.

"Use those banana peels for the experiment!" Levi ordered his classmate before pulling the first year with him.

Before he left, he glowered at Hange before shutting the door behind him.

"Oh no! My fart biofuel!" Hange wailed.

Meanwhile...

Eren was able to pass the math assignment. If he hadn't, his teacher was going to bring him to Levi's classroom. He was not in the mood for lunch, so he climbed up the rooftop to have some emo moments. Armin was called to the science laboratory to assist the president of the Science Club, Hange, in washing the banana peels. Mikasa, meanwhile, was also called to the office of a teacher because of some out-of-school activities that she would be representing for the school.

"There must be more than my school life," Eren thought as he sat on the hard cement under the roof of the storage room, giving him some shade. "If I were a rock star, no? I can meet my idol, Eld Jinn."

He grabbed his mobile phone and scanned through his playlist. He had Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit and Marilyn Manson on his playlist. But he had Japanese acts too, like Scandal and One Ok Rock. And most songs on his playlist were from rock icon, Eld Jinn. Eld Jinn did a cover of the song "The Reluctant Heroes" and "Call Your Name."

("The Reluctant Heroes" and "Call Your Name" are all OSTs from "Attack on Titan" hihi ^_^ )

"Ah, Eld Jinn's the best," he thought as he put the put the headset to his head and pushed play for "Call Your Name."

When the guitar riffs came to play, Eren closed his eyes. The headset was better than the earbuds because he could hear the chords clearly. And with the headset, he could not hear Mikasa nagging at him. As he was immersed in his own world, he pretended to play the guitar.

But just like those times when you can really feel that someone was watching you, Eren started to open his eyes. Somebody seems to be near, he thought. And as he turned his head to the left, his lips accidentally met someone's lips.

Mikasa's lips.


	3. Chapter 3

Mikasa went back to the classroom to grab the lunch boxes so that she and Eren could eat together. The two of them lived together in the condo unit since their middle school days, and Mikasa practically acted like a mother, elder sister, or a wife to Eren already, cooking for him and cleaning the house. Eren also helped her with the household chores, but cooking was Mikasa's forte.

Today, just like everyday, she cooked a nutritious lunch filled with rice, veggies, and tuna. Eren had to eat fish and veggies because he doesn't prefer them that much. And as someone who was always told many a time by Eren's mother (who also became her foster mother before Carla's demise) to take care of him, Mikasa took the task to heart.

"Eh? Where could he be?" she thought.

Armin was also not in his seat, so she asked Annie, who just came in, if she had noticed Armin elsewhere.

"How would I know?" Annie asked before sitting on her chair to sleep.

Mikasa frowned. Annie was one of the most intelligent girls in class, but she was the laziest too. She often excelled in science experiments even though it was against her beliefs to interact with the people, but she was doing it merely for the grades. She skipped classes most of the time, but still managed to ace her tests. It was Bertholdt who often tell Annie what to study. Mikasa did not like Annie's style because she always thought that you can get what you want if you work for it. And Mikasa studies to get good grades, though she did not even seem to break a sweat just to master a lesson.

Mikasa strode to Eren's table and pulled the handle of the drawer. He left the earbuds behind, she noticed. It might only mean that he was using his headset again. And when Eren was in the mood to be emo and angsty, he usually stays on the rooftop.

~~.

She raced to the rooftop and saw her pretty boy sitting on the cement, leaning against the wall, with eyes closed. She could tell he was listening to Eld Jinn again because Eren must have turned the volume up. It was not the best way to care for your ears, but Eren doesn't even care. He never does. The sight of him strumming to an invisible electric guitar was another thing she noticed.

He looked so peaceful and handsome that Mikasa's heart skipped a beat.

"Eren..."

Calmly and silently, Mikasa approached him, knelt, and sat on her legs. The sight of him, even if he never spoke, was enough to make her heart melt. She leaned forward to get a close glimpse of his face.

Ever since he had given her scarf to her, she had opened a special place in her heart only to him. They were foster siblings, of course, and Mikasa was especially touched when Eren took care of her, protecting her like how a brother would.

Eventually, when Mikasa learned to fight, everything was turned upside down. Most of the neighborhood kids before feared Mikasa than they did fear Eren, for Mikasa never back down a fight. She had been a legend in the neighborhood for knocking out three front teeth of a local bully. Because of dental aesthetics, the kid got his teeth back, but he was still utterly humiliated to be defeated by a scrawny girl. And since then, she had protected Eren, much to his disgust. It hurt his pride that he who was supposed to protect his sister, was now the one being protected. If they could give Armin his autonomy, how come Mikasa never let Eren be?

Mikasa could not remember how it all started, but as they grew up, she eventually developed romantic feelings for Eren. However, she had not realize it all these time. What looks like as concern for her irritated him to no end because he found her too annoying already. It was always, Eren here and Eren there, and he felt so suffocated. Her protectiveness mostly was the cause of their fights. But in most fights, Eren felt triumphant that most of the time, it was Mikasa backing down and lowering her head. To his chagrin, he would often be the first to say sorry whenever Mikasa would hide the lower half of her face with the scarf and try to hold the tears from falling.

She could stand up against everyone, even if it was Levi-sempai. But then, her main weakness was only Eren, who could break her emotions and pretenses that she had been keeping in front of everyone else.

With the peace they were having that time, Mikasa wished that it should last. Eren's lashes looked so soft, she thought, and his face looked so smooth that she could not see pores on his skin. She wanted to flung her arms around him and hug him. She wanted to kiss his cheek.

Hey! Where did those thoughts come from? Why was she thinking of Eren this way? It couldn't be, she thought. They're family!

Yet, her heart was telling her otherwise. Why was she always in denial regarding her feelings? She could, at least, be honest with them.

But then, Eren could be so dense, and Mikasa could be so cowardly when it comes to confessing her feelings for him.

As they often say, be careful what you wish for. What had happened next was something that she wasn't prepared for. Eren turned his head to his side and accidentally had his lips on to hers.

There went her first kiss!

Mikasa was glad that Eren was her first kiss, but she did not expect it to happen this way. She had often heard from the romantic Hannah that kisses should be romantic, and a girl should receive it on dates. But this was really unexpected, and she did not know if she should be happy with this or not.

Yet, her heart raced, and her eyes stayed open in shock. Eren still had not removed his lips from hers, probably from the shock too. Nevertheless, after about five seconds of the accidental kiss, Eren leaned his head back and apologized profusely, stuttering.

"Go-g-gomen... gomen..." he told her.

Mikasa felt her cheeks burning. Her hand found its way to her red scarf, and she covered her cheeks to prevent Eren from seeing her blush. But Eren was blushing too. She found something strange as well. While she could go on all day staring at Eren's teal-green eyes, this time was different. She had a hard time even to maintain eye contact.

"Daijoubu, Eren," she softly whispered.

And yet, she already wanted to just shower him with her hugs and confess. She could no longer hide it, but she had to.

"Mikasa," he called out.

The way he said her name was music to her ears. His voice always had that effect of making her muscles melt like she had lost important electrolytes to keep them strong.

"Hai?" she asked.

"Did you... bring the bento?" he asked.

Mikasa nodded silently and sat beside him. She brought out the bento that she had prepared and spread the little hankies in front of them to place the receptacles on top. As she was doing this, Eren was silently studying her.

"How do you know I'm here?" he asked the very obvious.

"You come here everytime you leave your earbuds in the drawer of your desk," she said, her gaze never leaving her task. "So, I surmised you're here again to deal with your angst."

A lopsided smile lit up Eren's face. Much as he gets annoyed with her constant pestering, there was nothing like her who knew him so well. Like a book that one reads over and over again.

"Eat now," she ordered him calmly.

"Yes, Neechan," he teased her.

Mikasa shot him a glare which looks like she was saying that he was trying to be funny when he wasn't.

"Eat now because we only have thirty minutes left," she said as she grabbed her own bento.

Eren turned off his playlist and brushed his headset to let it hang around his neck. He grabbed the bento and the chopsticks prepared by his foster sister and started digging into his veggies.

"Tuna and vegetables?" he asked, making a slight face on the squash on his bento.

"Eat them," her order sounded more like a military mandate than an order from an elder sister.

The two ate silently afterwards, forgetting the little awkward moment of the first kiss. After their meal, Mikasa accepted the bento from Eren and packed the utensils away. As she was wrapping the lunch boxes with the kerchiefs, she could feel the warm breath—his warm breath, on her cheeks. Eren's so close, she thought, and she froze on her seat.

Her heart pounding hard, so hard that she cringed that her heart was betraying its sound. Her cheeks erupted to all shades of red when she felt his arms around her neck.

And it was when she realized that Eren had redone the red scarf around her neck.

Still, there was silence, and two throbbing hearts. After Eren was done, Mikasa looked up to him with her curious eyes, albeit still as calm as ever. Eren's captivating green eyes studied her again.

"Instead of always nagging at me for taking less care of myself, should you be taking care of yourself as well?" he gently told her.

"Eh?" she asked.

"The weather's a bit cold," he told her. "And you didn't wrap your scarf well."

Mikasa nodded. It was this scarf—his scarf, that was making her warm all these time. "Thank you."

She checked her watch and saw that it was a few minutes before the afternoon session.

"Let's go," she calmly told him.

The two of them stood up and dusted the dust off the back of their uniforms. Eren stooped down to retrieve the bento and told her he would be bringing it in her stead. He held up a hand, and Mikasa just looked at it.

"Why are you acting so strangely around me?" he asked before grabbing her hand.

Mikasa allowed Eren to lead her down the stairs to their room. All the while, she thought that Eren was gently caressing the skin of her hand. With her free hand, she covered the lower half of her face with the scarf again.


	4. Chapter 4

Eren was still leading Mikasa down the stairs when he spoke awkwardly.

"Uhm... about the kiss..." he started out while scratching his nape with his other hand.

But he had his back facing her. He did not want her to see the blush forming on his cheeks. And for Mikasa, she was a bit thankful that Eren, too, could not see the blush. She still had her scarf up her cheeks.

"Yeah?" she asked softly.

And it was when he turned around and stared at her with his gentle teal-green eyes.

"It was an accident... Okay?" he told her as an excuse.

"What accident?" a male voice asked them.

The two turned around in shock to see Jean standing not far away. The horse-faced guy had a great displeasure on his eyes, and you could tell that his eyes were burning with jealousy.

"What accident, huh, Jaeger?" Jean asked as he strode forward to give Eren a beating. He grabbed the other guy by the collar of his uniform, and Jean shook him harshly. "Huh?"

"What's the big deal, man?" Eren angrily shot back as he pushed Jean further away. "I just swatted a mosquito and slapped her arm accidentally!"

Jean looked at Mikasa, who nodded blankly at what Eren said. He shook his fist at Eren and told her to be careful of Mikasa, "You are one lucky bastard, do you know that?"

"What do you mean?" Eren asked, taken aback.

"You better not hurt Mikasa, or you are gonna taste my fist!" Jean shot back.

"I'm not gonna hurt her, okay? She's my foster sister, did you hear me?" Eren retorted.

"Yeah, right. Foster sister, my a**," Jean cursed before leaving them.

As Jean left, Eren held Mikasa's hand tight and looked at her again, "Let's go."

Mikasa nodded and followed her foster brother. But in her heart, she spoke to him, "About the kiss, I hope it wasn't an accident. I hope you weren't sorry for kissing me."

~~.

The teacher was late—or maybe absent. Everyone was present in the room, but the students were a little bit close to misbehaving. Connie and Sasha were playing paper games. Ymir was looking at Christa adoringly as the latter placed little glitters on her fingernails. Reiner was poking Annie's cheek, and the sleepy girl woke up and smacked poor Bertholdt, who Reiner used as his shield. Jean was disturbing Marco, who was studying. Hannah and Franz where at the back of the room, hugging each other and talking of sweet nothings. Marlowe and Hitch were debating about world peace and beauty pageants. While the three friends, Armin, Eren, and Mikasa were back at Eren's seat, talking.

"Say, Eren, have you noticed that sign by Cafe Hana?" Armin asked excitedly. "Hange-sempai told me about this while I was washing the banana peels for her."

"What about Cafe Hana?" Eren asked with no interest.

"Someone's looking for a guitarist and a drummer," Armin excitedly shared.

"Hontou?" life came back to Eren's face when Armin mentioned about the cafe looking for a guitarist.

"Ah... yeah, I mean, you should try it out," Armin said.

"Yeah, I definitely should give it a try!" Eren said to Armin.

But all the while, Mikasa was listening to them, just as she always does.

"Who knows? Eld Jinn will stop by and chill, right? Right?" Eren excitedly told Armin over the prospect of meeting his favorite singer.

"Oh yeah! Sounds good to me!" Armin replied with a grin on his face as he exchanged high fives with Eren.

A small smile crept on Mikasa's face when she saw the happiness on Eren's face. Eren noticed her smiling, so he asked, "Do you wanna see my play?"

"I can be your manager," she told him with a straight face.

Both Armin and Eren looked at her in disbelief, but only Eren cracked up after that.

"You? Why? I am not gonna be famous yet, so why would I need a manager?" he asked her.

Mikasa's eyes darkened as she asked, "You... you don't need me?"

Eren answered in his usual cocky manner, "You know, you don't have to be my manager because you will act all protective and possessive again."

"Eren..."

"So, please stop acting like I'm your younger brother, okay? I can handle this," Eren said proudly.

Mikasa nodded in resignation. Why is it like Eren was trying to push her away again?

"Eren, you should check the poster out," Armin said. "I can accompany you if you want."

"Nah, no need, Armin," Eren said confidently. "I can find my way."

Armin shrugged his shoulders and smiled, "Well, it's fine. But you better get that slot."

"Yeah, I will," Eren said.

As Armin was about to reply, the teacher came in, looking moody as usual. Shadis-sensei was one teacher that you don't wanna mess with.

~~.

That afternoon, Hange pulled Armin again, and pulled Sasha and Connie too. Levi got exasperated at the resident four-eyes that he scolded her again and again for manipulating and abusing first year students.

"If you keep on making these sh**ty brats your fart factory, I am gonna f***ing report you to Erwin!"

But Hange was more amused than annoyed. Levi kept on cursing so much that it burned Connie's ears, but it made Hange smile all the more.

"Oh no, Levi-kun, I am just gonna make them wash the Petri dishes and the test tubes, you see?" Hange crooned as she danced tango in front of the midget.

"Don't you dance in front of me, you sh**ty Four-eyes!" was Levi's scream.

"Sempai! My hands burn!" Sasha screamed.

"Me too!" Connie complained.

"Oh, sorry! I should have diluted all those strong acids!" Hange apologized without remorse as she approached the first year students. And to Levi, "Ciao!"

"Sigh! That sh**ty Four-eyes never learns," Levi thought as he stormed off out of the Science laboratory to the Student Council's office where the student council president, Erwin Smith, was currently being busy. "There's no free and functional hands in the black market... Oh cr**!"

He cursed as he slipped on the floor because some sticky and unknown liquid that had spilt. "HANGE!"

Hange came out and saw Levi lying on the floor, so she went to him, squatted, and crooned playfully, "You called me, Sweety?"

"Sweety, my a**!" Levi complained again as he pulled Hange's sailor necktie. "Do you not know what a f***ing mop is?"

"Oh, I do know, but that is not my best friend," Hange said before standing up to go back to the lab. "I think I hear Armin shout, so please excuse me! Toodle-loo!"

Levi fisted his palms and swore that he's going to make Hange pay one day. The fall was very severe, and Levi thought he had broken some bones in his back. He was still contemplating on what punishment to give Hange when someone daintily came and asked Levi.

"Levi-kun, daijoubu?" a soft and gentle female voice asked him.

Levi grimaced and tried to stare. The fall was so bad that he realized he had been seeing stars. "Petra?"

Indeed it was her. Petra gently assisted Levi in sitting down.

"Now, now, let's not make it too sudden, shall we?" Petra said gently.

"My butt hurts. And I'm sure it's super sticky and wet too!" Levi complained in his usual foul mood. "And I don't like all things sticky and icky and wet. Ew."

Petra just laughed daintily. She held his hand and gently assisted him in standing up.

"Maybe you could wash in the washroo-"

"I think I have to," Levi grimly said, a storm of clouds hanging above his head. "And then, I'm gonna f***ing dry my pants and..."

But Petra leaned forward and shut him up with her index finger before whispering, "Now, now, Levi-kun, it's not nice to hear you curse."

Levi was confused at their closeness, wondering why Petra had to do that. But Petra just blushed and smiled sweetly before pulling herself back.

"It's Hange-san again, right?" she asked him, and Levi nodded in his usual moody self.

And so, Levi pulled Petra by the wrist and led her out of the corridors along the Science lab to go to the Student Council's office. He had to tell Erwin to suspend Hange for abusing her rights in the Science laboratory. But first, the mission's going to be cleanup in the restroom.

As they walk away, Hange had Armin clean the mess in the corridor.

~~.

Eren and Mikasa silently walked to Cafe Hana. Indeed, posted on the glass window was a sign looking for a guitarist and a drummer for the new band.

"I wonder how much they will give even for part-time?" Eren asked aloud. He knew Uncle Hannes did not have them pay the rent for their condo unit, but still, it was good having to earn some moola from some gigs.

Eren opened the door of the coffee shop, and Mikasa followed in. The monkey chime from above twinkled sweetly as they opened the door. And what greeted them was the scent of freshly brewed coffee and some hint of cinnamon and vanilla. The cafe was very spacious, and there were lots of tables too. The cafe gave some subtle ambiance of a European style, but there was a stage in front filled with musical instruments for a band. Eren saw a drum set, and electric guitar, and some mike stands too. There were a lot of local and foreign guests currently in the shop. He had never been in this place before, and he thought Cafe Hana was like some maid cafe.

"Kirei na," Mikasa whispered as she appreciated the sophisticated ambiance of the place.

Eren turned to her and said in reply. "Too bad, we can't afford their coffee here."

As Mikasa continued to let her senses feast on the elegance of the cafe, Eren approached the counter, introduced himself, and asked the barista about the poster.

"Oh, good! So, you are interested?" the barista asked. "Do you have an electric guitar?"

"I have one at home," Eren replied.

The barista craned his neck and saw Mikasa mindlessly watching the place, so he asked, "Does your girlfriend sing?"

Eren blushed. There's no way Mikasa's his girlfriend. Not in a million years. But wait, where did that come from?

"Uhm... anou, she's my foster sister," Eren replied. "And she cannot sing."

The barista apologized for his presumption of Mikasa being Eren's girlfriend, but Eren did not know that the barista did not take what he said at face value.

"Too bad, we need a vocalist too, though we forgot to put it in the details," the barista said. "But can you sing?"

"Yes! I can!" came Eren's confident reply. He can sign and play the guitar. And he had looks to boot. Surely, more and more patrons will come once the band is installed.

"Now, the band is complete, I suppose," the barista said before calling someone over the phone.

Eren listened with less enthusiasm when the barista was talking to the boss. After a few hai's and iie's, the barista called out someone who was sitting near the counter. "Annie-chan?"

Eren turned around to see Annie, who was sitting comfortably and drinking some caramel macchiato. She stood up and greeted Eren in her usual bored face.

"So, you brought your bff along?" Annie drawled.

Mikasa was now drawn to some paintings on the wall, and Eren just let her be. "Yeah, you know we walk home from school together."

"Tsk. Get married now or something. Just like Hannah and Franz," Annie mocked him.

"Married?" Eren asked in shock.

"Well, Eren-kun, you and Annie-chan can have a live audition today. Let's just say the two of you are guest players in our cafe. If the response of the audience is exceptionally good, then we can keep you both," the barista said. "I've been given some rights by the owner, you know."

Annie asked Eren, "Would you be fine having me at the drums?"

Eren's eyes grew wide open. The sleepyhead that he knew her to be can actually—play drums?

"Why, of course! That's great!" Eren beamed. He was in awe at Annie's hidden talent.

Annie gave out a small smirk and proceeded to tell him, "I choose what we sing. Armin says you like Eld Jinn, right?"

"Oh heck, yeah!" Eren replied like a fanboy at a concert. "Choose any Eld Jinn songs, and I'm gonna rock it!"

"You had me worked up too," Annie replied in her usual sleepy tone. "You go sing 'Lie Down Beside Me Under The Summer Sky,' and I do the drums. Do you know the-"

"If you're asking me about the chords, then yeah, I know it by heart."

Annie shrugged her shoulder and strutted toward the stage, and Eren followed her. Mikasa, who had just turned around to look for Eren, eventually saw Annie making her way behind the drum set.

"Annie?" she wondered to herself.

She could not believe Annie was also into music because all she cared for about was just climbing on trees to sleep and kicking Reiner on the face. She also watched Eren taking the guitar and slipping the guitar strap through him. However, something stirred inside her as she watched Eren smiling and nodding at Annie, and she did not like what she saw.

"Konnichiwa," Eren said through the mike.

Everyone turned their attention, and Mikasa just stood still at the back. Eren and Annie introduced themselves as guest players who just wanted to entertain them after a busy day. The crowd's reception was warm, especially after Annie raised one drum stick.

"We're gonna sing 'Lie Down Beside Me Under The Summer Sky'," Eren said through the mike.

"Eld Jinn!" one college student crooned.

Eren started to strum the guitar, and Annie started to bang the cymbal thrice. And as Annie started to bang the drums, the crowd howled in delight, save for Mikasa. She saw how happy Eren looked as he sang, but he was happy being on his own.

"You... You are happy away from me, ne, Eren?" she asked him in her mind.


	5. Chapter 5

Levi was extremely angry, desperate.

Petra let him borrow her hair dryer, and Levi was confused why she brought one to school. Petra told him she always had that in her locker. Anyway, he washed his pants and dried them, with Petra preventing some guys from entering. He heard some guys asking her why she was blocking, and he scoffed at Petra's lame attempt at driving the guys away. The restroom was not damaged, he thought. It's just, he was washing his pants and drying them.

After some good fifteen minutes, his pants were dry, so he slipped them on. He dashed out of the restroom and saw Petra still standing by the door. He handed her back the dryer and thanked her with his usual sullen mood before heading up to Erwin's office.

But Erwin was no good either. The student council president was blank as a piece of paper while listening to Levi's complaint.

"Oi, Erwin, are you listening to me?" he demanded.

But Erwin shook his head, called Nanaba and Mike over, and continued playing Clash of Clans with him with their mobile phones.

"Sorry Levi, but we have a clan war today," Erwin said to him. "Please come back tomorrow."

"Nandayo?!" Levi screamed in Erwin's face.

"Sorry Levi, if you can't provide me a dragon, then please get out," Mike said roughly before taking a seat in front of Erwin.

"Dragon... Nani?" Levi asked in confusion before being dragged away by Nanaba out of the door. "Hey!"

But after Nanaba brought him out, she shut the door in front of him. Levi seethed in anger, cursing Erwin and his damn clan. He strutted out in anger and decided to go home.

But his footsteps took him a little too far, and Petra, who was following him around, could not even catch up with him.

"L...Levi-kun, chotto matte..." she whispered.

~~.

Levi passed by Hana Cafe because it was his way to his house. He was near the door when the door suddenly flung open.

"Oh, s***!" he screamed when he was almost hit by the person who exited the door.

To his surprise, it was Mikasa Ackerman, the student who was talking to some teachers this lunch break regarding some out-of-school activities. She left the premises in haste, red scarf covering her cheeks again. But Levi could see some tears falling from her eyes.

"Oi, Ackerman!" Levi called out, without feeling any awkwardness towards calling out someone with the same surname.

Mikasa stopped and turned around, and brought the scarf higher until only her eyes were seen.

"Daijoubu?" he asked with his usual sullen mood.

Mikasa lied and nodded. She did not want anyone to see through her emotions. And Levi rolled his eyeballs.

"Everybody knows you are the Little Miss Perfect who does not smile, but seeing you like that, I guess it has something to do with that Jaeger brat," Levi bluntly told her.

Mikasa did not reply, nor did she give any confirmation. She just stood there, staring at him. She knew that Levi knew Eren for the fact that the latter had been caught hanging out at the rooftop a couple of times, and Mikasa had also been caught with him. And it was mostly forbidden to hang out at the rooftop because there were precious materials in the storage room upstairs. Also, Levi, who frequent the student council's office to rant out at Erwin, oftentimes see the two first year students being reprimanded by Nanaba.

"Am I right or am I wrong?" Levi asked her again.

"Iie..." she finally replied.

Levi walked towards the glass window and peeped inside. Truth to be told, Eren was currently singing another song, whatever it was, and Annie was at the back, flipping her drum sticks before banging the cymbals.

"That Leonhart brat is in it too?" Levi tartly remarked. "I didn't know she could play the drums."

Mikasa just started back at him.

"I just thought her talent is sleeping," Levi remarked again nonchalantly. Pointing a finger at her, he bluntly informed her, "You know, if you care so much for Jaeger, give him some space to develop. You trust him, do you?"

Mikasa nodded.

"If you trust Jaeger, you trust his decisions. You trust that he can make them. He's all grown up, and you know very well that you can't be there for him all the time. Get used to it."

Mikasa turned around and looked past the glass window. Indeed, Eren was having a blast belting out more Eld Jinn hits.

"Does that mean that he doesn't need me anymore?" she asked the sempai. Her vision never left Eren.

"Of course, that silly brat still f***ing needs you," Levi taught her. "It's just that, you should stop acting like you are his guardian."

Mikasa did not reply.

"That brat's got pride too, you know. Guys always do. And it will hurt his pride if you assist him like he's imbecile and all that," Levi told her. "You want some coffee?"

Mikasa turned her attention to her sempai, "But I don't have money for coffee."

"Who says you will pay for your caffeinated s***?" Levi asked bluntly. "It'll be on me. I promise."

Levi confidently got inside the coffee shop, like the sophisticated guy that he was, and Mikasa followed him. There were some empty spaces at the mezzanine, so the two of them ascended the stairs. One waiter came to them and asked for their order. Levi asked for black tea and green tea latte.

"And oh, could we have two slices of blueberry cheesecake, please?" Levi politely instructed the waiter in his straight face.

"Hai," the waiter said with a bow before going away.

~~.

Eren did not notice Mikasa and Levi enter the premises, as he was busy entertaining the people. It was only a little later when he turned his head to the mezzanine when he saw a girl with jet-black hair, stoic face, and red scarf. And across her was a sempai at school.

"Mikasa?" he asked himself. "What is she doing with Sempai?"

A bitter feeling stirred inside of him.


	6. Chapter 6

Levi was explaining to Mikasa about what to expect on the out-of-school activity that she was to go. Throughout the whole conversation, Mikasa just stared at Levi without saying a world.

"Oy, are you even listening to me?" he asked.

"Hai."

"Sigh," Levi sighed as he rolled his eyeballs. "Do you not even respond? I am tired of having to talk all the time without people listening to me."

"Eh?"

Levi started to talk how Hange always disregard what he say, and how Erwin always seem to look past through him like he did not exist.

"And this afternoon, he disregarded my rant against Hange because he had to attend to a clan war!" Levi complained.

Mikasa let out a light laugh, just a little one. Levi, however, was astonished. So, this girl can laugh too?

"What's so funny?" he asked tartly.

"Nothing, Sempai," she replied calmly as before. "It's just that, my classmates too, play Clash of Clans and often argue, especially the guys."

"The guys, eh?" Levi asked. "Well, I don't play that. I am too fabulous to play. I like black tea, cleaning up, and cursing. But if fencing can be considered a game, then I am good at it."

Mikasa smiled a bit as she grabbed her cup of green tea latte. Levi eyed her as she took some small sip with her drink.

"How about Jaeger? Does he join those clan wars too?"

Mikasa put down the cup on the table and looked at Levi, "No. He is busy listening to music and practicing with his guitar to play online games."

"Wow! Impressive!" Levi let out a less-than-impressed response while clapping slowly and dramatically. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who's not addicted to social media and online games. If he can be a guitarist someday, I will totally support that brat and brag to my colleagues that _that_ guitarist is my kouhai in high school."

Mikasa turned to see Eren playing some songs. Unlike the previous ones, it seems Eren had less life.

"If he becomes famous, I am afraid of what fame can bring," she told him solemnly.

"Oh?" Levi asked, trying to be distant yet curious at the same time. "So, what are you afraid of?"

"Loss," the kouhai replied with a sad tone on her face.

"Excuse me?" Levi asked, leaning forward. For sure, he had heard her right. "Loss? Of what?"

"Fear of losing Eren," Mikasa said, while earning her another sigh from Levi. And she turned to him. "Doushite, Sempai?"

"You fear losing him, did I get you right?" Levi asked as he got his cup of black tea from the table. "To whom? To fangirls? To what? Ackerman, I already told you that you are not his f***ing guardian, you hear me? Let the guy grow, if that makes him happy! Let him live a life! Don't go chasing after him. Don't restrict him. Don't go saying you'll protect him from the world. Don't even go following him as a manager or something like that kind of s***. Let him find his own path, and find your own."

Mikasa's eyes started to glimmer. With tears trying to betray her calm exterior.

"You're family right? Though for one moment, I don't f***ing believe the two of you act like one," Levi told her after sipping from his tea. "I am sure that both of you will still fix it somehow, and eventually, the two of you will get back together like how real siblings would. Unless… both of you will have a major conflict that you two can't fix."

Mikasa nodded, though she did not want to believe such a thing.

"You make your own choices, but do not go forward regretting them afterwards. We make them, not knowing the outcome. Just let it be our lessons," Levi said before enjoying more of his tea. "Ah… Why do I have to advise hormonal brats?"

As the two sat in silence, Eren and Annie ascended the stairs of the mezzanine and greeted the sempai.

"Have a seat," Levi said. "Leonhart, beside me. Jaeger, beside your girlfriend."

The three first year students stared at him. Levi did not mind calling the other two as a couple. Hashtag, everybody knows. Nevertheless, Eren and Annie were obliged to sit down as instructed.

"Coffee, you like?" Levi offered as gallantly as he could.

"Caramel macchiato," Annie replied shamelessly. It would be the second time she was having that this day.

Eren was not sure what to get, so he pointed at Mikasa's drink. "I'm having the one she has."

Levi smirked as if to taunt Mikasa, "So, the two of you really are inseparable. Okay, that makes a caramel macchiato and another green tea latte."

Levi hailed a waiter again, and ordered the same food he had, and the two drinks that the students ordered. The whole time, Levi was talking about Hange's misbehaviour while taking notice of how the other students react to each other. Since witnessing Annie playing the drums with Eren, it was visible to Levi that Mikasa didn't like her at all. It was beginning to interest him.

"And clan wars?"

"I play it too," Annie replied in her usual sleepy tone. "My clan wins in every fight that we have because I like the rush of winning."

"Oh well, I can't care less," Levi said. "Just listen to me when I speak, okay?

The three students nodded in response.


	7. Chapter 7

The good news? Annie and Eren were officially part of the band. They had to be in the cafe on Saturday mornings to practice with the other guitarist, the bassist, and the keyboardist.

The three first year high school students exited the cafe and walked along the curb to their respective houses. Not far from them, an old lady was being harassed by seven bulk-bodied men who tried to exhort money from her. Eren impulsively ran to help the old lady. He kicked and punched one guy at a time, but as he was fighting alone, he was easily outnumbered. Add the fact that though he was lean, he was puny compared to those buff men.

One man who was holding a metal rod tried to hit him with it, but someone punched the life out of him. It was Mikasa, who fought that man single-handedly. Annie, meanwhile, was secretly learned in muay thai, also fought two men at a time, kicking the ankle and pushing chest-down one man, and kicking the side of the loin of the other. The three students fought all men until all seven stood up and scrammed.

"Mikasa, you shouldn't have!" came Eren's annoyed remark to her.

"You just—" Mikasa retorted in an angry yet calm manner before being interrupted by the obaasan.

"Thank you so much, young kids," the old woman said to the three.

The three students went to the old woman and assisted her to stand up well.

"Daijoubu desu ka?" Eren asked with worry.

"Ah, daijoubu, young man," the obaasan said. "You and your two friends sure are heroes in the future."

"Two friends?" Eren thought. "Did they...?"

After bidding the old woman goodbye and seeing to it that she was no longer followed by the men, Eren turned to the girls.

"I am glad that you two are there to fight with me," Annie said with her grand airs. "I can bring them all down, but I am such a frail girl who needs protection too."

Mikasa was started to get annoyed at Annie's pretense. Yeah sure, she can fight, but does she really have to tell them that she also needs protection? Who was she fooling?

"You bring Reiner down with your kicks all the time, and you never even seem to need help," Mikasa shot back at her, her tone dark and full of anger.

"But having Eren fight along makes me feel like I have a knight in shining armor who's gonna save me afterwards," Annie replied to raise Mikasa's ire.

But Eren blushed and replied, "Well, I am flattered that you feel that way, Annie."

Mikasa did not say a word. Her hands rolled into balls of fists, and Annie was very satisfied with what she had seen. So, Mikasa's really possessive and protective, eh? Maybe she can try to snatch Eren away from the possessive b**** and make the Oriental even more jealous.

Such a good idea, Annie thought.

"Oh well, I gotta go and engage in another clan war," Annie said before going away.

The two were watching her walking off when Mikasa remarked, "That girl certainly doesn't need any protection at all."

"Says Miss-I-Can-Protect-Myself-Coz-I'm-Strong," came Eren's sarcastic reply.

Mikasa turned to him with a sad look in her eyes, but she was not able to utter a thing.

"Why did you help me back there?" he asked her in annoyance.

"Because you are impulsive. Do you know you have to have a plan in mind before fighting?" Mikasa shot back at him.

"Are you trying to imply that I am stupid? You always make me look weak and stupid all the time!" Eren shouted at her.

"No, I..." Mikasa started in anger, but faltered. "I..."

"Give me a break, Mikasa, will you?" Eren begged in exasperation before turning away.

"But you are happy that Annie came to help you, ne?" Mikasa asked him softly, loud enough for him to hear her.

Eren must have heard her because he turned his back to face her. He saw her bangs covering her face, and her hand bringing her scarf up her cheeks again. He felt stinging guilt. He was being hypocritical again. He hated it that Mikasa helped him, but he was flattered that Annie helped him. And both girls certainly could kick a** without help. He was deeply guilty because he and Mikasa had spent many years together, while he and Annie just spent a few months as classmates in school. He brought himself closer to her, put his hands on her arms, and gently asked.

"Hey, hey, are you crying?" he asked.

Mikasa shook her head, but a drop of tear betrayed her from her lie. Eren brought a finger to her cheek to brush off the tear.

"Hey, I'm sorry for shouting at you."

"I'm sorry for being protective again," she replied. "I can't help it."

Eren did not see any more tears from her face, but he cupped her face and used his thumbs to caress her cheeks.

"I'm sorry for getting jealous," Mikasa whispered.

"What did you say?" he asked, unable to hear what she said.

"Betsuni," she lied again.

Eren brought his face closer to her and blew some air so he can see her eyes. When her bangs departed from her face, Mikasa saw those teal-green eyes again, and she could feel her face flush. She really didn't like Eren blowing on her face, so she gently slapped him on the cheek. Eren let go of her face and laughed.

"So, we're cool now?"

"Yeah, we're cool," she replied solemnly.

Mikasa brought her hands close to Eren's and held it, and she walked first to lead the way, holding his hand. She gripped his hand tight so he'll not let go, but all the while, she still hid her face with her scarf.

Not far away, Sasha, Connie, Armin, and Jean saw them.

"That bastard! Did he kiss her?" Jean screamed with rage.

"No. And mind you, siblings don't kiss," Connie said.

"And they definitely are not siblings," Sasha said while munching on a bagel.

"I guess they're good and making up," Armin said with a smile. "They fought this morning because Eren did not listen to my math explanation."

"Whatever!" Jean told his friends in jealous anger. "I won't forgive that boar-headed bastard if he makes Mikasa cry again!"

"Jealous much?" Sasha nonchalantly asked Jean before turning her attention to her bagel.

~~.

They lived in a condo unit, all right, but the unit was just enough for them two. There was only a small sofa and a small table with a flat-screen TV in the living room, and the small dining table shared space with kitchen. There were also only two rooms, so whenever Armin would come to chill, he would sleep in Eren's room. And they also share the small toilet. Outside, there's a small balcony where they just sit on the cemented floor because it could not accommodate any furniture. The only good things about the small balcony were two small potted cacti that Mikasa owned.

Eren was studying his lessons first while Mikasa was cooking. Though Mikasa often did the household chores, she and Eren shared chores during school days. Mikasa does the cooking and setting the table, Eren does the washing of the dishes and cleaning the kitchen. With that arrangement, the two of them can have time to study.

The smell of soup wafted through the air, and Eren's stomach began to rumble. He began to muse to himself, that if Sasha were to stay with them, she would hoard the soup to herself the moment Mikasa turns off the stove. He had a hard time concentrating on his lesson because the soup was so good. Even though Levi-sempai had bought them snacks, Mikasa's cooking always boosts his appetite. All other foods go digested in a jiffy.

"Time to eat," Mikasa called out from their little kitchen.

Eren stood up and walked to the kitchen. He stood next to her in the sink as he turned the tap on. He was washing his hands vigorously as Mikasa placed more utensils into the sink. After washing his hands, Mikasa washed her hands too.

Finally, the two settled at table.

"Itadakimasu!" the two said to each other.

Eren took his bowl of soup and slurped. It was still a bit hot, but he hungrily took all the soup. Mikasa smiled a bit watching him eat. It was a pleasure seeing him eat heartily.

"I never say this often, but your cooking is just so good," Eren complimented her.

"Arigatou," was her usual deadpan reply, though she was blushing.

"You know, if you're gonna get married, your hubby's sure one lucky guy," Eren joked and laughed.

"Eh?" Mikasa asked, shocked. Why was Eren talking about marriage?

"But I'll be luckier if I marry you instead," Eren joked again.

Mikasa liked him a lot, and fantasized about staying beside him and being his wife. But Eren talking about marriage as if it were not a remote possibility made her choke on her soup.

"Ah! Gomen! Daijoubu?" Eren asked as he stood up and pounded on her back.

Mikasa hacked out her cough and began to pound on her chest as well. She could tell some of the soup went up her nose too.

"Gomen..."

"You sure have a wicked way of joking, ne, Eren?" Mikasa told him spitefully in between coughs.

"I said, I'm sorry, okay?" Eren worriedly told her as he continued to tap her back hard. He was sick with worry that his joke could cause someone to die of asphyxia. "I'm sorry..."

He assisted her as she drank her water. Then, he went back to his table and continued to apologize.

"What's with the marriage talk, all of a sudden?" Mikasa asked. "Was it because of the kiss?"

Though Eren told her it was an accident, he was still bothered with the kiss at the rooftop. And he began to blush.

"Ah... no, no, it's not that... It's... I," he stammered, suddenly unable to explain himself.

Mikasa looked at him expectantly, hoping he'll say he liked her too.

"Uhm... See... I see you already are so capable of being in the kitchen and..." Eren started. "While I am incapable."

"No, you're not," Mikasa said. "Remember when I had flu? You were making soup and omelet for me, and it was so good I was able to sleep for the rest of the night."

Eren sighed. He only knew how to fry breakfast food and make soup from soup stock, but other than that, nothing else. He could only make what he calls "medicine food"—the food that you eat when you are sick so you'll get better.

"You want me to teach you?" she offered.

"Nah, I can manage," Eren said with a smile. "I can read instructions in a cookbook."

Mikasa held out her hand on to his and squeezed it. With a small smile, she told him, "I know you can cook."

"So if you trust my cooking skills, will you also trust that I can look after myself?" Eren asked, like it sounded like a bargain.

Mikasa was taken aback. If she didn't agree, the two of them would end up fighting again. And though she loved him unconditionally, she was getting tired of the fights as well.

"Hai..."

~~.

After cleaning the kitchen, Eren asked Mikasa, "Hey, I'm going out. Do you want something?"

Mikasa thought for a while before shaking her head. "Not that I know of."

Eren smiled and asked her, "It's almost the time of the month, is it?"

Mikasa suddenly looked away and blushed. Eren knew the arrival of her red visitor, a proof of how close they really are since back then.

"I checked your room yesterday while looking for your sewing kit, and it seems we had forgotten to buy them last weekend."

Mikasa gaped. She had totally forgotten to pile up some. She didn't want going out from wherever she will be by the day she will have her red tide. She had suddenly forgotten to plan it out.

"I know your brand," Eren told her, smiling in a gentle manner.

Mikasa blushed. The last time she had Eren buy her her girly pack was three years ago, and she vowed then that she'll never have him go at the middle of the night just to buy a pack.

"Okay... I'm sorry I forgot," she told him.

Eren smiled and grabbed the doorknob. He opened the door and stepped out.

~~.

It was not only because he was going to buy her girly provision. It was also because he was craving for some ice cream. He and Mikasa shared the same passion for chocolate-flavored ice cream, and there's a local 7-Eleven near the condo. He missed sharing ice cream with her and Armin, especially after celebrating. Tonight, he was going to celebrate getting in the band and having to earn some money from a gig, and he wanted to celebrate with her.

He realized that Mikasa had been doing a lot of things for him, and after that kiss, he suddenly realized if Mikasa was hiding something from him. Like she was feeling more than she let on. Could it be...

He felt guilty again. He always shouted at her whenever she acted like a protective lioness. He realized he had done little to reciprocate her acts for him. Maybe, a little ice cream could do as a token of gratitude.


	8. Chapter 8

Eren came home, bringing home goods from the convenience store. When he came home, he found the living room empty, so he called out for Mikasa.

"Hai?" came a voice from the balcony.

Eren heaved a sigh. He went to the balcony and found her tending to her cacti. When Mikasa thought her foster brother was behind her, she turn around. Eren told her he brought home ice cream.

"Ah, yokatta," Mikasa replied to him before tending back to her prickly plants.

Eren went back in the living room and took out the ice cream. He took the remaining goods consisting of Mikasa's girly provisions, stepped inside her room, and put it in the box where she usually stores her other girly provisions like shampoo and stuff. She was really organized, he thought. If not for her, his own life would be very messy. Somehow, he felt he should be thankful that she stood by him. And somehow, he should start showing some signs of gratitude too.

~~.

One earbud's with Eren, the other half with Mikasa. In between them were two big bowls of chocolate mint ice cream. And despite the silence between the two, a trace of "Call Your Name" could be heard from the background.

"Where is my lover?" so said the lyrics of the song.

Mikasa was staring at the skies, which was painted with dark blue whole over. The moon was about the wane, and the stars were so clear. When Mikasa turned to Eren, she just looked at him wistfully. He was slowly bobbing his head as he closed his eyes. He was enjoying the moment and the music. He looked so peaceful and so handsome that Mikasa felt her heart skipping beats. To cool off the heat she was feeling, she grabbed one of the bowls and scooped a big chunk of ice cream before putting it all into her mouth.

"Hey, that's my bowl," she heard beside her.

She turned around to see Eren a bit pissed off. And she looked down and realized that one bowl was beside her, and it was her bowl. What she had was Eren's bowl, and worse, she had eaten from the spoon that he had used.

"Ah, gomen!" Mikasa replied coolly, though she mentally slapped herself. "I will get you another bowl of ice cream."

Eren put on a smirk on his face, "Perhaps it was you who was bothered by the kiss, Mikasa."

"Eh?" Mikasa asked blankly.

"You ate from my spoon," Eren remarked. "You must have enjoyed kissing me, huh."

"I said I'm sorry," Mikasa said defensively.

"It's so not you to commit a mistake like this," Eren teased her. "Where's the old Mikasa who is calculated?"

He took the bowl beside Mikasa and helped himself to it. Then, he teased her again as he looked at her, "Don't worry, I kiss you back."

Mikasa felt herself drowning. It looked like Eren had fun teasing her and all.

"Ah, kinishinaide (never mind)," Mikasa said as she scooped more ice cream and helped herself to it.

Eren did the same, relishing the spoon that Mikasa had used. He closed his eyes as he held the spoon to his lips, enjoying the moment, the music, and the ice cream. Mikasa, meanwhile, felt her own chest. It was a good thing that Eren could not see her blush, but all these silent glances were not helping her be focused and rational. If she keeps on staring at him, all the things she had studied might go right off the balcony.

But still, Eren looked so handsome, she thought. And she felt herself melting all over again. Why was she feeling like this even more? She had a crush on Eren since before, but he was too blind to see. It was just after the kiss this lunch time that her feelings for him doubled, tripled, or even went out of proportion, and it was only after the kiss that maybe, Eren had finally taken hint of her feelings for him. And now that he was joking about kissing her back, was he finally able to get it that she liked him?

But because she was so tired, she did not realize that she had dozed off.

~~.

"Oh damn! Mikasa had fallen asleep!" Eren complained as he saw her dozing off, her head leaning towards the wall on her other side. Good thing her cacti were small, or else, Mikasa could get pricked in no time.

He turned off his playlist, put his phone and his earbuds inside his pocket, gathered the bowls with the spoons, and stood up. He was going to wash these, but before washing them thoroughly, he had to carry Mikasa to her room.

He got back from the kitchen after putting the bowls on the sink and saw Mikasa still sound asleep. She looked so peaceful and vulnerable, he thought. So different from the stoic Mikasa who would seldom let out a smile or a laugh. Eren squatted and pulled Mikasa closed to him, and scooped her from the floor. But that was no easy feat. Mikasa, though almost the same height as he was, was heavier than he was. Mikasa was mostly made up of muscles due to years of working out, while he probably had just a few percentage of what she was made up of. He even saw her doing crunches almost every day, and he could see those six-pack abs that most guys would boast of.

"Ugh... Mika. So heav...y!" he complained as he carried her in bridal style.

Carrying her to her bedroom was much of a task, and his room was closer to the living room than hers. He thought he could just carry her to his room and let her sleep there. Anyway, Mikasa had sometimes slept in his room when she wants to, just as he would also sometimes sleep in her room when _she_ wanted to. After putting her comfortably on his bed, he arranged his pillow and put a blanket on her so she wouldn't feel the chill. After making sure she was all right, he left the room and wash the bowls.

~~.

"Hmm..." Mikasa moaned as she tried to open her eyes.

The bed was familiar, but it didn't feel like hers. When she opened her eyes wide and surveyed the area, she realized she was in Eren's room.

"Huh? Where's Eren?" she thought groggily. "Why am I in his room?"

A few seconds later, the door opened, and then shut. She squinted and saw it was Eren who was approaching his bed. He gently scooted beside her in bed, hoping she wouldn't wake up.

"Eren?" she gently whispered.

"Oh, you're awake?" Eren whispered back nonchalantly.

"Yeah... Why am I here in your room?" she asked.

"My room is nearer the living room, and you're so heavy," he whispered his complaint.

Mikasa grabbed the collar of Eren's shirt and pulled him closer. Eren blushed as the force of Mikasa's pull took hold of him. When she was finally near him, Eren could feel her breath against his neck.

"It's so cold, Eren," she whispered before burying her face on his chest.

Eren was tongue-tied. He and Mikasa had never been this close before even though they stayed in one bed at times. Most of the time, it was Mikasa on the far edge of the bed to the point of falling off, but being this close to her was a first.

But because Mikasa was no longer talking nor moving, he surmised that she had fallen asleep already. He pushed her back so that she would lie comfortably on his bed. After re-arranging the pillows, he lay on his side, elbows propping his head. Her fair face was more than enough to stir emotions inside him that he found foreign, scary, yet interesting. Why was Mikasa making him feel this way?

He did not want to, but his hand trembled as it acted on its own, moving as he brushed some strands of hair off her face. Her lashes were so long, and he wondered if lashes will still grow this long if you trim them. Her lips were a bit parted, and Eren suddenly found the urge to kiss her for real. He suddenly swallowed hard while looking into her lips. He wanted to drink and get drunk with her lips. But then, why was he thinking of her that way?

No, she's his foster sister. There's no way she could be his lover.

But his heart eventually won. He leaned forward, and gently, softly, planted a kiss on her upper lip. This time, it was not an accident, and he wasn't sorry. His soul begged for more, so he scooted closely, put his palm on her cheek, and continued kissing her, her lower and upper lips, never mind if she doesn't respond.

It was bliss to kiss her, he thought.

After his soft kisses, he lay on her shoulder, wrapped his arms around her, and slept.

"Good night, Mikasa," he whispered. "Is this love? Did you teach me this? 'Coz if it is so, I think I am in love with you already."

~~.

Eyes fluttering, close, then slowly opening. The sight was a blur, and everything was a bit dark. But still, the light from the neighbor in the next unit shown through Eren's window.

Mikasa slowly opened her eyes and remembered sleeping in Eren's room, and even remembered why she was there. Poor Eren could not match up to her mass. Her muscles were forces to reckon with.

But what made her suddenly blush was what Eren did and said last night. Still with her eyes closed, Eren kissed her, tugging both her upper and lower lips. He looked like he wasn't begging for a response, just enjoying the touch of her lips to his, but she was hopping she still had the strength to reciprocate his kiss. Drowsiness and Eren's kisses stole the last of her strength away, and she was melting like glue. When Eren confessed to her, her heart was no longer able to take it. Instead of responding, she just felt her body heating up like she was a kettle.

"Eren is in love with...me," she thought in bliss.

Finally. She was hoping she could confess to him first, but him confessing first was... nice. She had no idea that Eren also felt the same way for her. She thought he just looked at her as an annoying foster sister who was overprotective.

"Maybe Sempai was right about me letting Eren go," she thought. "Because he came back to me."

When she realized she was in bed, she realized that something heavy was not allowing her to move. She slightly turned her head to see a bush of dark hair covering her face. And her shoulder felt heavy. And an arm went around her body too. And that breath, that hot breath against her neck!

"Eren..." she thought.

If she could ask Armin to take a photo of them both, she could see her love sleeping, leaning against her shoulder and hugging her like a koala to a tree.

"I never taught you how to love, Eren," she whispered. "Because I am not good in teaching. But somehow, I wonder if you knew... But I guess you don't because you were angry at me most of the time. But for the longest time, I had always been in love with you, Eren Jaeger. I am in love with you, and I love you."

She planted a small and tender kiss on his head, and let her lips stay for a few seconds. After that kiss, she gingerly got up and got out of bed to prevent him from waking up. She took a look at the clock and realized it was a few minutes before her alarm clock would go off. She had programmed her clock to set off at five in the morning. She had to get up take a bath, and cook breakfast and lunch for the two of them. She's gonna wake him later.


	9. Chapter 9

"Damn you, sh**ty Four-eyes!" Levi screamed again.

Levi decided to check the Science lab the next day, knowing that Hange made a mess yesterday that made him lose his footing and acquire some icky liquid on his pants. It seems that though Hange had the first year students clean the lab, everything was fine, except for one detail: Hange placed a bottle of soda inside the fridge of the lab. And it was a major no-no to put in food in a lab fridge.

"What's the problem, Sweety?" Hange teased him as she danced tango in front of him.

"Will you stop dancing in front of me?" Levi screamed. "I am not entertained with your sh**!"

"But dancing is exercise!" Hange rationalized.

"Pfff, never mind that!" Levi said in resignation. "Why did you ever put a damn bottle of soda in the lab fridge? You know very well that it's against the rules!"

"I know," Hange told him crisply. "But it is not for personal consumption."

Levi was unconvinced. "Oh? So what is that for, then?"

Hange turned her back on him, faced the window, and with all passion and conviction, raised her arms like she was talking about taking over the world.

"That soda is for my experiment, the hope of mankind!"

Levi was astonished for a moment, before letting out a little sneer. "Hope of mankind, huh? Are you trying to make me laugh?"

Hange turned around and solemnly told him with a straight face, but with an aura that told Levi that she was just being ridiculous again, "Of course not! I am being serious! I will use that soda for the experiment!"

"Pfff, suit yourself, Four-eyes," Levi replied, tired of arguing with her first thing in the morning.

He exited the premises hastily because he could not be bothered with her sh**s. The next thing he did was go inside the classroom and straight to his table. It was always his habit to open the drawer of his table to check if any of his things had been disarranged during the night.

But the one thing that surprised him the most today was that, despite the order of his pencils, pens, erasers, paper clips, and all other school materials, there was a cream-colored envelope with its back facing him. Written in cute handwriting was the phrase "To My Captain."

"Nani?" he thought pensively as he retrieved the envelope from within. He turned around to see that no one among his classmates bothered to speak to him, let alone inform him about the envelope. "Hmm, maybe no one knows."

Mike, Erwin, and Nanaba were busy studying, while Gunther was pleading Aurou and Petra to stop fighting. Aurou and Petra were so engrossed in their debate about current events. Their other classmates were also doing whatever they were doing, and Levi thought it wasn't any of them.

As Levi was about to go out of the classroom to read the letter in utmost clandestine, their instructor, Pixis-sensei (one of the board members and Hange's godfather, remember?), came in.

"Going somewhere, Young Man?" asked the teacher.

Levi was flustered. He could have read the letter by now. Oh well, he could be patient and read it later.

"Anou, I'll be calling Zoe from the Science lab," he lied.

"Oh, so my goddaughter is still at her prodigious experiment, isn't it?" Pixis-sensei asked with a smirk. "All right, go ahead and call her. We'll be starting class."

Levi bowed and exited the room. He tucked the envelop in his jacket and muttered, "Sensei's goddaughter sure is a pain in the a**, skipping class and coming in late whenever she likes. Hmph!"

~~.

Lunch time.

While most of his classmates were in the other premises in school, eating lunch, Levi sat under the tree outside of their classroom. He finally had the chance to read the letter, so he grabbed it from the pocket of his uniform. The letter was still as fine as ever because he took great care in putting it in his pocket. Nevertheless, he was caught up in his own world as he read the contents of said letter.

~~.

 _To my Captain, Levi-kun,_

 _Today is (date), Tuesday. It's a nice day. However, it seems so ordinary to me. Everything passes by, like they always do. Mundane time, mundane world. I wonder where I would be today, I thought as I woke up._

 _Do you know why there are birthdays and festivals? And do you know why we always feel excited by it? It's because these come only at certain times of the year, and they are not everyday. If they were done everyday, they won't be special anymore, and we won't be looking forward to them. I hope you get what I mean._

 _We all live in this ordinary world, but despite the ashes around us, we always get to see a sparkling diamond or two. All we need are eyes to see them clearly. I mean, despite the day being ordinary, I still find the time to recognize special things in my ordinary school life. These are the things that make waking up enjoyable, and going to school looking forward to._

 _In my case, Levi-kun, the special diamond I find in my life, and that special occasion that I want to celebrate is you. I always love seeing you everyday, even if we seldom talk. I'm sorry for writing my confession in a letter because I am too shy to say. I hope that I have to courage to tell you this, but in time, I know I will have the courage to be honest with you, face to face._

~~.

Levi loved the writing in the letter. The way it started out did not freak him out, but he was annoyed at the apology the writer had for confessing in a letter.

"Pfff, this girl, really," he frowned.

Nevertheless, he was touched by the honesty and the grace in the letter, so he read on.

~~.

 _This is our last year in high school. For the year after that, I don't know where you'll be. They say that you will go to law school or be a Math teacher. After all, the kouhais who fear your style of teaching math also adore you at the same time. You could be a lawyer who could change our system, and I know you can. As for me, I want to be a kindergarten teacher. I am still ironing out my plans, and hopefully, I can polish them out at the end of the year._

 _But then, Levi-kun, for as long as we'll still be in the same school, you will always be the Captain of the ship that I cruise in. Your presence always make me think I am heading towards the right direction. And forgive me for writing this all. I hope I did not distress you at all._

~~.

Levi smiled a bit. There was no indicator regarding the sender. Surely, it's not a kouhai, though he was hoping it came from Mikasa, who had taken his fancy yesterday after she hastily exited the coffee shop. It has to be one of his schoolmates or classmates, but he was hoping it was not a joke from Hange. Why would Hange want to be a teacher?

"Levi-kun?" a soft voice called him out.

Levi, in his usual poker face, looked up to see Petra holding bento.

"Yes?" he asked her in his gallant yet fabulous manner.

Petra fidgeted as she replied, "Ano... has Levi-kun eaten lunch?"

Levi remembered that Mike wasn't able to cook for their lunch because of his sinusitis. He suddenly heard the massive rumbling of his stomach.

"Not yet," he nonchalantly told her.

Petra sat in front of him and invited him to lunch. "I made some bento for Levi-kun as well."

He watched as Petra took out the packs for them. He had been offered bentos in the past by his classmates, batch mates, and kouhais. Because, let's face it, he's just too cool and fabulous. Yet, it was the first time he received a bento from Petra. He took one lunch box and found out all the appetizing food that Mike was supposed to make.

And when he tasted it, he swore that it was so good. The other person he thought that could make a good bento as this was Nanaba. If Erwin and Levi were the losers in the kitchen, Mike bested them, but Nanaba seriously was the champion.

One of his housemates could cook like this, but what set Petra's bento apart from Nanaba's was a special something that he could not point his finger into. Or could it be the effect of reading a feel-good love letter before eating?

"Oishii," Levi complimented with a smile.

Petra felt the blood rushing to her cheeks as she saw the quiver of his lips. He looked so fine and dandy, and for her, there's no one in school like him.

"If so, can I make you bento everyday?" she asked him.

Levi told her to do whatever she wants to do. It made Petra smile, and it made her energetic to finish her lunch too.

~~.

At the end of the day, Levi found Mikasa sitting under the tree outside his classroom, the tree where he and Petra ate the bento this lunch time.

The kouhai was very silent as she sat and hugged her knees. Something seemed to be very wrong.

"Oy, Ackerman!" Levi called out. "Daijoubu?"

Mikasa lied again as she nodded. Her lips were hidden once again behind her scarf. Levi walked to her and sat on the grass beside her.

"You are a great liar, do you know?" he told her. "Heck, when you lie, you're obvious as f***."

Mikasa did not reply and continued to let what was bothering her occupy her.

"Jaeger, right?" he asked. He suddenly got interested in her yesterday, but seeing her getting all depressed because of Eren began to irritate him.

"Hai..." she finally confessed.

"Doushite?" he asked.

"Doushite?" Mikasa asked, turning to him in confusion. "It seems I always will be a jealous girl. Getting jealous of Loss. Because Loss always takes Eren away from me."

"Getting poetic, aren't you?" he told her. "Get your sh** together, and don't let your world revolve around him all the time. Did I not tell you yesterday that you aren't his guardian?"

But he wasn't able to convince her.

"What did he do this time?" he was started to get annoyed.

"Loss... Loss comes in different forms, like the way she did to my parents and Aunt Carla," Mikasa started out, her voice cracking. "And now, Loss comes to take Eren away, and she takes the form of Annie Leonhart."

Levi began to laugh. Mikasa was being poetic, but it was clear as day that her hormonal self was simply just jealous of Annie.

"Naze? Are the two of them dating?" Levi asked before clicking his tongue. "Well, I don't see why they can't. After all, both of them love music, and they enjoy each other's company."

It was just his way, too, to make her look at him.

But Mikasa's fist tightened all the more. She could not let anyone take Eren away from her, not when he confessed to her last night that he was in love with her. But will fighting for her feelings for him be worth it?

Why was she suddenly so sullen when she woke up happy that day?


	10. Chapter 10

So, what exactly happened that day for Mikasa to be in such a sullen mood?

That morning, both of them had sudden eruption of blushes, and they could not even talk straight to each other without stammering. The two of them went to school, feeling bashful. When Armin met them outside the school gates, he lit up a Cheshire cat grin.

"Eren! How's the audition?" was the first question he asked them.

Eren lit up a smile, while Mikasa suddenly went glum.

"Annie-chan and I got in the band," Eren told his bestfriend. "We will be starting to meet with the rest of the band members this Saturday to practice."

"Whoa, sugoi!" Armin exclaimed as he positioned himself in between them before putting his arms around them. "Eren, please give me free coffee, huh? Huh?"

"Oy, Armin! I'm not the owner of the coffee shop," Eren told Armin.

The three of them entered the school together, but Mikasa suddenly became so silent. The other guys did not notice any change because she was always the silent one whose role in the group was the listener.

"Ohayou!" Sasha greeted the three when they entered the classroom. "Armin-kun, let's hide from Hange-sempai today!"

"That we shall!" Armin replied as he punched the air.

"I am tired of washing those messy Petri dishes and test tubes for her," Connie complained when he showed his burnt fingers.

"So do I!" Sasha complained too.

"I had been washing banana peels since lunch time yesterday. I have to hide from her today," Armin said.

"You guys can just let those lovebirds over there do the dishes for you," Jean suggested to them about Ymir and Krista as the three friends went to their separate tables. When he saw Mikasa, he greeted her a smile, "Hey."

"Hi," Mikasa calmly replied in her usual manner, no smile and all.

"That's a good idea, isn't it? Isn't it?" Jean asked Mikasa excitedly.

"About what?" she asked him.

Jean was stunned. So, Mikasa did not pay attention? How sad!

"Uhm, about Krista and Ymir washing for Hange-sempai!"

"What did you say?" Ymir called him out.

Because of that, Jean and Ymir had another heated altercation again. Armin turned to Eren and smiled.

"Hey Eren, it's good that Jean's got preoccupied into fighting with Ymir now," he said to his friend.

"Yeah, that's a relief," Eren told Armin before taking out the earphones from inside his bag. Then, he called out to Mikasa, "Oy, Mikasa, wanna study with us?"

"Study what?" Armin asked as Mikasa turned around.

"Our lesson for the first subject," Eren said.

"Wow! This is a first," Armin said in amazement as he looked at his friend.

"The first what?"

"A first! Of you inviting us to study! We know you laze up all the time," Armin explained.

"Nah, I was just inspired to study after the good things that happened to me yesterday," Eren said.

But Mikasa just stared at him without a word.

"So, wanna join?" Eren asked Mikasa again.

Mikasa nodded and pulled her chair closer to Eren's table. Armin didn't notice unusual with their girl friend, so he also pulled his chair so they can study.

However, Armin only noticed Mikasa's change that lunch time. Annie approached Eren and invited him to practice with him.

"Let's go to the music room," Annie suggested.

"Yeah, sure," Eren said with a smile.

As they were about to leave the room, Eren felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned around to see Mikasa.

"Yes?" he asked her.

"Where are you going?" she asked calmly.

Eren knew where this was going to, so he told her that he'd be practicing with Annie. But when Mikasa was about to pull him, he flared up again and held her wrist.

"Sorry, Annie, just go to the music room first. I'll follow," he told his classmate.

Annie shrugged her shoulders and went away. As for the foster siblings, Eren pulled Mikasa to follow him to the most forbidden place on earth—the rooftop.

"What is it again? Trying to forbid me to practice?" he asked in exasperation.

"Naze?" she asked, her voice slightly betraying some emotion. "You're not going to eat lunch? Armin will be eating with us."

"I am not hungry, thank you very much," Eren said as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Would you mind, Mikasa? I have some important things to do, and this is one of those."

But Mikasa bowed her head.

"What is it again? I am tired of having to apologize all the time every time you are acting like this. Like, is me practicing with Annie so wrong? Why do I always owe you an apology? Tell me!"

"Are you purposely running away from me?" she asked.

"Of course not! It's just that I have a life too, you know," Eren said.

He rolled his eyeballs and sighed heavily. "You know, you should get a life too. Find your own friends. Find a hobby. Don't let your world revolve only around me! Don't be too clingy! You are not even my girlfriend. You're my foster sister, for crying out loud!"

His words stung her.

"And... I don't even know why should I even say sorry!" he said.

He held her by the arms and looked into her eyes. There was rage and every other emotions associated with friends who are in conflict.

"Mikasa, you know I love you, and I care for you," he told her, but Mikasa's eyes only grew wide, like it's the first time he even said his feelings for her. "But we need to grow up and find our own paths. Okay? But the worst thing is, I don't feel like you even trust me."

"I... I do," she whispered.

"But why do you always restrict my actions? Why do you always treat me like some young kid! I'm not a young kid anymore, okay? I'm grown up! I'm not your younger brother!" he told her his deep-seated emotions. "I know I can never be like you. You're strong, you're good at almost everything. You are good in our classes, and you also are good in practical lessons. Those are things that make me jealous, so envious of you, that most of the time, I resent you for it. But now that I have found something that I can call my own, something that can make me proud of myself, can you just give it to me? Why can't you just let me be?"

He let go of his hands on her arms.

"Or are you satisfied of me being behind your shadow all the time?" he asked her sharply, malice laced in his words. Poisonous words.

Though Mikasa tried to hide her tears, one drop could not even keep itself from falling.

"Grow up, Mikasa! Look at me, huh? Look at me!" he begged as he leaned forward closer to her face. "Can't you see that I have changed?"

Mikasa nodded. "It's just now I see that... you have grown up..."

"I grew up a long time ago, Mikasa Ackerman," Eren told her. "It's just that you are too blind to see that I ever did. You are stuck in time, believing that I am someone who constantly need your supervision."

Before he could even say more mean things, he told her, "I'm sorry, Mikasa, but the Eren Jaeger you knew has grown up. I am not the same Eren you knew yesterday. I have grown up for my own good, and I have grown up for my dreams. It's time you find yours."

As he was about to go to the door, the two of them saw Armin standing there, holding the packs of bento that Mikasa left on her table.

"Ah, eeto," Armin started before laughing awkardly to break the tension. "Shall we all eat lunch together?

"I'm not hungry, Armin," Eren coldly told him. "Annie and I need to practice."

He turned on his heel and walked out of the door. Armin looked at him, then at Mikasa, but he was so confused that he ran after Eren.

"Oy, Eren, what was that for?" Armin asked him. "I heard it all. Why did you even say that?"

Eren looked at him angrily, "So, you side with her too?"

"Iie, chigai (no it's not like that)," Armin said. "It's just... You are too harsh."

Eren sighed. "I know, right? Armin."

"Yes?"

"You know I can trust on you, being my friend," Eren said. "You know I love Mikasa, right?"

"As a foster sister, yes," Armin said.

Eren's eyes furrowed. "Yes, as a foster sister. But what are you trying to imply?"

Armin mentally slapped himself. He knew Mikasa was all over Eren romantically, but Eren was not. He had no idea though, that Eren confessed to Mikasa last night. He wasn't sure if Eren's feelings for Mikasa had changed, but all he was certain that Eren only looked at Mikasa as a foster sister.

"Ah, betsuni," Armin lied.

"You know I love her, but I am just being tough on her because I don't want her to have me apologize all the time for things that aren't even my fault, things that only she give unnecessary meaning into," Eren told his friend. "I just want her to learn to be her own person and not to stay by me all the time. How come even twins can do that, but she could not even do that?"

"Dunno."

"I want to fly. And I want her to fly as well. We can't always be like this," Eren explained.

"Tough love, huh?" Armin concluded.

"Yeah. I'm showing her tough love," Eren replied, his expression getting depressed. "I love her and want the best for her... and for me. But I have to show her this side of me so she'll understand that I don't always need her all the time. That she has to trust whatever decisions I make."

"I agree," Armin said, getting his point.

"She feels like I am running away from her," Eren told Armin. "I am not running away from—yes, it seems I am running away from her. Like I am finally glad to be out of her shadow for once. That I have something I can call my own and not have her stick to me all the time. But you know, she did not know that whatever happens, I can always rely on her like I can rely on you."

Armin nodded. "Wakatta."

"Armin, can you keep Mikasa at bay for me?" he requested his friend. "I have to really practice..."

"But your lunch," Armin said.

Eren stretched out his hand to get the bento from Armin. After that, the blondie watched his friend walk away.

"This is gonna get awkward, I guess," Armin thought as he turned to the other side to go up the rooftop where Mikasa might still be standing.

And guess what, she was still there, standing.

"Hey Mikasa," Armin called out, lighting up into a smile. "Tabemashou."

Mikasa looked at Armin with a blank stare. Her eyes were red, but there were no traces of tears. "Hai."

The two of them sat down on the cemented floor and silently ate their lunch.

~~.

"What took you so long?" Annie asked in boredom as she flipped her drum sticks.

"Sorry, I have a talk with Mikasa," Eren smiled in apology.

"What did you talk about?" Annie pried.

"Uhm, sorry, it's between the two of us," Eren replied.

"What's that?" Annie asked, pointing at the thing that Eren was holding.

He looked down and saw he was holding the bento that Armin just gave him some minutes ago, "Uh, the bento. Tabemashou."

Annie shrugged, grabbed her bag, and got a banana and a bottle of milk. The two of them began to eat their lunch. As Eren dug into his bento, he realized that it was Mikasa who cooked this for him this morning. The two of them were so happy, but the atmosphere suddenly changed this noon time.

After eating, the two of them began to practice. Eren loved Annie's company because she always engaged him to experiment so she could follow his lead. Even with her boring expression, Annie never hesitated to tell Eren what's wrong with his playing style and even to tell him to try what he thinks will sound best.

"We have to show the Sempais that we can be at par with them," Annie told Eren as she hit the snare drums.

"Yeah!" Eren replied with a smile as he strummed the electric guitar.

Unknown to them, Mikasa was watching at them from the glass window, at a distance.

~~.

"Naze? Are the two of them dating?" Levi asked before clicking his tongue. "Well, I don't see why they can't. After all, both of them love music, and they enjoy each other's company."

But Mikasa fisted her hand.

"I really don't get it," Levi said. "If you love someone, you should fight for him. If you love someone, you should just let him go. I am not a good advisor for you, but snap the f*** out of it and get your s*** together!"

Mikasa wiped her eye and looked at Levi, "Sempai, would you stop cursing?"

"Why not? Cursing is cool!"

"It's not," she replied solemnly.

"Well, it can't be helped," Levi replied in that fabulous way of his. "It's just being me."

Mikasa shrugged. "Whatever Sempai says..."

"Ay, this emotional brat!" Levi complained. "Just concentrate on whatever you need to do in school, okay? Should I beat the cr** out of Jaeger for you?"

Mikasa looked at him with a blank expression.

"I have the itch to kick someone on the face, but I can hold my own," Levi said. "And I just don't beat someone for the heck of it because I am too fab."

Mikasa complimented him, "Hai, Sempai is the coolest person in school."

Levi's radar began to tick, "You think so?"

"Hai."

"So, you can trust me in anything, Ackerman," Levi told her. "You want me to teach you Math?"

"That's my forte, Sempai," Mikasa replied.

"Oh, I didn't know," Levi nonchalantly replied. "Or any advice from me?"

"What do I need to expect from the out-of-school activity for tomorrow?" Mikasa asked.

As Levi was about to speak, someone called Mikasa. The two of them turned around to see Eren standing a meter away. Levi crisply looked at the brat, but he let out a smirk that made Eren flinch.

"You want a Math tutor?" Levi called out to him.

"Eh?"

"Sorry brat, but I've got a very important meeting with Ackerman here," Levi informed him with his air of superiority. "I'll have you in my appointment tomorrow if you like."

Eren could not even reply because of Levi's legendary reputation in school, being the school's coolest Sempai. When he turned around to Mikasa to ask for an explanation, she did not look at him. Instead, she was checking something on her phone.

"Uhm, hey Mikasa," Eren started awkwardly, knowing about their strife earlier that day, "I might come home late."

Mikasa turned to him and answered nonchalantly, "Wakatta."

Eren was bothered by Mikasa's apathy, and he felt bad again. But then, he had so stand with his resolve. He wasn't going to apologize to her. Practicing with Annie wasn't a crime, right?

"Ja, mata ne," Eren said to her before he ran off.

"Feeling guilty, eh? Tsk," Levi said to no one in particular. And, turning to Mikasa, he informed her, "Here is what you will expect for the out-of-school activity tomorrow."


	11. Chapter 11

Mikasa was lost at thought as she stared at the food that she placed on the table. Her mind drifted back to the time that she and Levi talked about the out-of-school activity.

"Why did Sempai said that I need to go instead of Sasha?" she asked herself. "Will it have something to do with food? But the teachers did not say anything."

If Sasha could be synonymous with food, then it might really have something to do with it. As she turned her back to go to the sink to wash her hands, the door of the condo unit opened, and came in Eren. He came in nonchalantly, reminding himself that he had done no wrong this noon.

"Tadaima," he greeted her as he kicked off his shoes and wore his slippers.

"Okaeri," Mikasa greeted him from the kitchen.

Eren stepped in and looked at his foster sister washing her hands. On the table was a generous amount of food that can feed a squad of ten people.

"Do we have a guest?" Eren asked in confusion, trying to break the awkwardness between them.

Sober as always, Mikasa replied, "No."

Eren went to the sink to wash his hands, and then took his place at the dining table. He was overwhelmed with the feast in front of him that he was wondering if something had happened to Mikasa.

"Daijoubu?" he asked, very worried if she had suddenly lost her mind.

"Eh?"

"You... cooked a lot, and we don't have a guest," Eren said, worry starting to lace in his words.

Mikasa smiled a bit, "I... am just happy."

Now Eren was curious as to whether Mikasa had some loose screws in her head. Or was she hiding something from him?

"Levi-sempai said... that the out-of-school activity that I will be attending tomorrow will give me additional merits in school," she said. "And who knows? If I do well there, I just might attain me a scholarship for university so I won't have to depend on Uncle Hannes all the time."

Eren was relieved. Mikasa cared a lot for her grades. He was relieved because she wasn't going lunatic and all. Though hearing Levi's name punched him to the gut, he was glad that Mikasa was looking forward to the activity tomorrow.

"I wasn't aware that I made a lot, but that's okay," Mikasa told him gently. "So, eat lots."

Eren helped himself to the food that Mikasa cooked. He ate heartily as usual. He always love to eat what she cooks.

"Delicious, as always," Eren praised her. "If not for your cooking, I will starve."

"You sound like Sasha," Mikasa said before biting into her food.

"But still, I might not survive with my own cooking if not for you," Eren said to her, trying to make her feel better.

"Then you should learn how to cook," Mikasa dryly said. "Cooking omelet and medicine soup is not enough."

"Wakatta, wakatta," Eren said. "Please teach me, huh?"

"Wakatta," Mikasa replied. "Do you want, Friday? Or..."

"Friday would be great," Eren said.

"You... don't have practices?" Mikasa asked.

When she came to that point, Eren noticed that Mikasa was being cautious with her words, like she did not want to provoke him.

"Practices will start on Saturday, so don't worry," he told her with a smile. "You can have me the whole afternoon."

Mikasa nodded and lackadaisically ate her dinner.

"I'll help you make delicious food so that you can always have energy for practices," she told him. "Music will be spoiled if you are hungry."

Eren was relieved that Mikasa finally approved of him entering the band, "Arigatou."

~~.

"You approve of me entering the band, do you?" he asked her as the two of them stood outside at the balcony.

"I... saw that you're happy," she told him. "I see even here that you love your guitar, and you finally have a chance to show your talent to the world. I'm sorry for hindering your dreams."

Eren reached out to hold her hand.

"You sure you're okay with it?" he asked, and she nodded. "Arigatou. Let's reach for our dreams, Mikasa."

"Ee," Mikasa replied solemnly. "I will go and watch your performances."

"You sure are my biggest fan, Mikasa, but my autograph ain't cheap," Eren teased her.

"I don't need your autograph, Eren," Mikasa retorted, still with her usual stoic face. "You can just give it to anyone who likes."

"Aw, come on now, don't be jealous," Eren said as he squeezed her hand even more.

"Chigai," Mikasa retorted again. She was not willing to admit that Eren's future fangirls might cause her distress.

"So, we're cool, are we?"

"Ee."

Eren pulled her so that they will go back inside the house, but as he turned around, Mikasa let go of her hand and gave Eren a backhug. Eren felt butterflies in his stomach as his foster sister's hug tightened around his waist.

"What now, Mikasa?" he asked playfully. "Don't you want to sleep?"

"Just let me hug you for a minute, and we're good," Mikasa whispered as she buried her face on his back.

"You're not acting as a foster sister to me, Mikasa," Eren thought with a smile. "You are affected with the kiss we had yesterday."


	12. Chapter 12

"Eh?" Sasha screamed in dismay at Eren. "M-Mikasa was sent out for an activity out of school, and she will be eating there?"

"That's what she told me this morning before we left," Eren nonchalantly replied.

"No! I am so hungry! I want to eat steak and ravioli and burger and pizza and—"

"Shut up, will ya?" Reiner finally remarked in anger as he shoved a banana inside Sasha's mouth. "If that makes you feel better."

Sasha grabbed Reiner by the arm and flipped him on the floor. The whole class was in uproar at the "wrestling match" that was going on, and the people clapped because Sasha was able to take on someone extremely larger than her. Then, grabbing the banana out of her mouth, Sasha shouted at Reiner.

"I am not hungry for a banana! But thanks anyway!" she scolded him before running out of the classroom with the banana in hand.

Eren shrugged after watching the Potato Girl run out of the room and went to his seat to listen to some songs on his playlist. The day was a bit stuffy so he rested his chin on the window sill and closed his eyes. He did not recognize Armin coming in and standing in front of him.

"Eren," Armin called out, tapping his friend on the shoulder. He knew that once Eren hits play on his playlist, he won't be able to hear anyone else due to the pumped-up volume of his earphones.

Eren turned around to see his best friend, and he pushed his earphones away from his ears.

"Ohayou," Eren greeted him.

Armin looked around wistfully to Mikasa's seat and asked Eren if he and Mikasa had patched up. Eren nodded with a smile and informed his friend that Mikasa already agreed to let him be in the band.

"Sugoi!" Armin remarked. "I can't stand the two of you not being in good terms. After all, that girl really loves you a lot."

Eren got up from his position and stared at his friend. Since yesterday, Armin had been implying some things. His eyebrows furrowed as his cheeks burned.

"What do you mean by that?" Eren asked, his voice rising a bit.

"Where were you the whole time, Eren?" Armin asked in amusement. "I mean, like, hashtag, everybody knows!"

"What do you mean by 'hashgtag, everybody knows,' huh?" Eren asked in confusion.

To which, Armin hit his face with his palm, "How can you be so dense, Eren? I cannot with you!"

And Armin shook his head and turned his back to go to his chair.

"Oy..OY! Armin! Matte!" Eren called out. "What do you mean by what you said earlier?"

Armin beckoned his friend to come closer. And when Eren did, Armin tried to look around to see if Jean was in the premises. When the horse-faced guy wasn't in sight, Armin smirked and remarked, "I already said that Mikasa loves you."

Eren blushed again, to Armins amusement. But Eren brushed it away, saying that of course, Mikasa loves him because they're foster siblings.

"You think so?" Armin smiled like a contented cat and grabbed his bag. "Ja, Eren, I am gonna study now, kthanksbye."

"Oy, Armin! What exactly do you mean?" Eren asked in exasperation. What exactly did Armin mean when he said that Mikasa loved Eren?

But Armin buried his face into his book so Eren could not disturb him. Smart boy.

~~.

Lunch time.

Levi was currently under the tree, reading another letter from his secret admirer. The letter did not piss him off nor scare him because, like the first one, this one was written with flare. It was graciously written like Levi could feel that the girl writing this one has finesse.

He did not notice Hange chasing first-year students to bother them with anything that she had in mind. He did not notice Mike, Nanaba, and Erwin playing kick the can in the field. He also did not notice Gunther and Olou studying under a tree across the other part of the field. And he did not notice Petra approaching him.

"Ano... Levi-kun?" Petra called his attention.

Levi looked up and told Petra to sit with him. He was expectant of the bento that she will be making, and he was not disappointed because Petra had bento with her.

"Ano, Levi-kun, Levi-kun likes tonkatsu, ne?"

"Yeah, tonkatsu is oishii," Levi replied with his usual poker-face.

Petra began talking to Levi about her grandma. As Levi received the bento from her, he listened intently. The way Petra talked was similar to the way the writer constructed her words: fine and gracious. He wished it was Mikasa writing the letter to him, but if it was Petra writing it, he wouldn't mind. He hadn't talk with her like this, in a close encounter.

Maybe he could just get to know her and ask her regarding the letter later.

~~.

Mikasa came in the classroom after the lunch break, just a few minutes before the start of the afternoon class. Sasha, who stood expectantly by the door, rushed to her and twirled her around, expecting her classmate to be bringing some food along.

"Wha...why do you not have any food?" Sasha asked in panic.

"I was just tasked to taste some food there," Mikasa replied. "There was no all-you-can-eat."

"What? So envious!" Sasha cried.

"I was just being sent by the school to choose among the food concessionaires that have plans of providing food in the school canteen," Mikasa explained. "If you were there, I am sure you'll choose all of them and eat all their food."

"B-b-but, I am hungry!" Sasha cried as she hugged Mikasa. "Please give me some food!"

"Oy, oy, do not greet Mikasa like that!" Connie shouted at Sasha as he pulled her away.

"NO!" Sasha screamed.

Mikasa was able to come inside the classroom in peace because Connie had pulled Sasha away. When she reached her place, she caught Eren glancing at her, but Eren, she noticed, immediately turned his head away and looked out the window. Mikasa could see that he had a blush on his face. In effect, she pulled her scarf close to cover her cheeks again. Sure, Eren was glancing at her. It was no doubt, and it was clear as day. And when her gaze landed at Armin, she saw Armin smirking at her like he was hiding something.

"Doushitan, Armin?" Mikasa asked crisply.

Armin only shook his head and informed her to take her seat because Shadis-sensei might come in any minute.

~~.

That afternoon, as the three friends were walking home, Eren bugged Armin again.

"Oy, Armin, you really owe me an explanation..."

"About what?" Mikasa cut in.

"About... Something this lunch time," Eren said to Mikasa before turning to Armin.

As if knowing what Eren was trying to ask him, Armin suddenly faked a stomachache.

"Ohhh my stomach hurts so bad, I'm gonna run home!" Armin lied before going away. "Mata ashita! (See you tomorrow)"

Eren and Mikasa were left to themselves.

"What was that about?" Eren asked himself out loud.

"About what?" Mikasa asked.

"Nah, forget about it. Armin was being weird today," Eren said.

Mikasa did not press on and walked silently alongside Eren. Not from afar, Jean was hanging out outside the convenience store with Sasha, Connie, Ymir, and Krista. When Jean saw Mikasa with Eren, his jealous flared up again.

"Hey, you f***ing bastard, why you!" Jean blurted out of the blue as he grabbed Eren by the collar of his uniform.

"What the f*** is wrong with you, Man?" Eren screamed as he kicked Jean's knees.

"Ooof!" Jean screamed as he fell on the ground.

"Booyah! This is gonna be a good fight. Wohoo!" Ymir screamed with delight.

"Ymir!" was all Krista could angrily say.

"Why are you with Mikasa again, huh? Huh?" Jean asked Eren as he used his force to stand up the ground.

"She's my f***ing foster sister, that's what!" Eren explained in anger. "Not gonna expound my explanation for stupid imbeciles like you!"

And the two went on fighting again. Ymir, Sasha, and Connie cheered and even placed some bets, but Krista tried to stop the two.

"Onegai, please stop this," Krista begged them.

"What's wrong with you, Man?" Eren asked again.

"Because I like her!" Jean finally confessed.

Eren, who was about to punch Jean, stopped his fist in midair, and was shocked at the revelation. Even Mikasa was shocked to learn that Jean liked her.

"I knew it!" Ymir exclaimed happily.

"You do?" Connie asked her.

"You won't know coz you're stoopid," Ymir cajoled him.

And Jean's fist landed on Eren's cheeks.

"And I won't allow you to dare hurt her, not even her heart!" Jean screamed.

Eren fell to the ground, and Mikasa tried to help him, but he refused any help. He stood up by himself.

"See? You aren't even concerned for your f***ing foster sister!" Jean berated him.

"Not your problem, Dude!" Eren retorted as he punched Jean, but Jean dodged it.

"Yohoo! I won the bet! I won the bet!" Ymir cheered in a sing-song voice as she showed her palm to Connie and Sasha, who placed their bets on Eren.

"I'm not telling you to place a bet on me, you b****!" Jean screamed at Ymir.

"My, my, you are ungrateful! You should be thankful I even took your side," Ymir smirked.

But before Jean could answer, a fist landed on him. It was Eren's, and Jean fell to the ground.

"Yehey! We won the bet! We won the bet!" Sasha sang as Connie asked for Ymir's part of the deal.

But then, the deal wasn't even over. Jean stood up and fought with Eren again. But before the fight could even escalate, Mikasa stepped in and punched Jean on the gut. And before Eren could even berate her for butting in, Mikasa punched him and toppled him down on the ground.

"Eh?" Ymir stood, speechless.

"But, the bet!" Sasha cried.

"No more bets, you see!" Krista finally scolded the other three before stooping down to help Jean. "Daijoubu?"

"What did you do that for, Mikasa?" Eren asked angrily as he wiped his bloody lips.

"The two of you are getting rowdy, and we are in a public place," Mikasa solemnly replied with a grave face. "The two of you are disgraceful."

"Mikasa, my love!" Jean shouted in agony as Krista helped him get up.

But Mikasa only glared him before grabbing Eren by the collar and dragging him home. Connie, who was supposed to cry at his lost bet, laughed at poor Eren being dragged by Mikasa. It was not everyday that said guy would be humiliated by being overpowered by a girl.

~~.

"Itai!" Eren screamed in pain.

The medicine sure hurts, and Mikasa was undoubtly not very polite nor very gentle when it came to nursing Eren's wounds.

"Do I have to pick up all your pieces everytime you go on brawling with Jean?" Mikasa scolded him.

"You don't have to help me. It's hurting my manly ego, you know! Ouch!" Eren retorted.

"Is it manly to just go answer to a fight? Jean was just being petty and starting a fight, and you accepted the challenge? You are stooping too low to his level, and I am not amused," Mikasa said. "I don't remember raising you like that."

"Will you shut the f*** up, Mikasa?" Eren screamed at her. "I am not your little bro nor your son, get it?"

Mikasa punched him again.

"How many times do I have to tell you to temper that mouth of yours?" she asked him. "The last time I knew, you aren't even friends with Levi-sempai."

"Oh yeah? So the two of you are friends, huh?!" Eren asked angrily.

"So what if we are close? I evev told him to temper his cursing, and he said it is cool. I don't want you to do the same thing even if you and him are not close," Mikasa coldly told him.

"Yeah, whatever," Eren said. "You could just go hang out with him."

Mikasa saw he turned his head away when she tried to put some medicine on his lip.

"Are... are you jealous, Eren?" she asked him.

"Jealous! Me, jealous of Levi-sempai? Why should I be?" Eren told her defensively.

"You... you wouldn't be angry at me like that and push me away if you aren't jealous of him," Mikasa told him as she tried to hold his hand.

"Don't you hold me, Mikasa," Eren seethed in anger.

But Mikasa was not dazed. She grabbed his hand and pushed the cotton with medicine harder on his skin, making Eren yelp with pain.

"Hold still, Eren," Mikasa told him. "And you didn't answer my question."

"Why should I even bother? To give you satisfaction?" Eren retorted.

But Mikasa hid her cheeks with her scarf again and smiled inside.

"You... like me, Eren?" she began to ask him softly.

Eren turned to her, blushing at her question and her gentle voice. He began to stutter as well.

"Uh... what kind of question was that?" Eren asked, avoiding to answer.

"You'll not even get defensive or jealous of Levi-sempai and Jean if you don't like me," Mikasa told him.

That did it. That got to him. He could not even deny that Mikasa's blush behind her scarf was making him weak inside. He gently cupped her cheeks and slowly leaned forward.

"You're right, I'm really jealous," he whispered, his hot breath on her face making Mikasa blush even more.

"E-Eren..."

And the next thing she knew, his soft lips landed on hers.

~~.

They were a bunch of hormonal teenagers, but they knew they had to control themselves. They knew that it was also Uncle Hannes' proposition that both of them should put study their first priority before any raging hormones. But that did not stop Mikasa from hugging Eren like a pillow or a stuffed toy and being so cozy with him on the couch. (And it's not like Eren's gonna f*** Mikasa starting from that day on, and f*** her every night.)

"Eren, please stop squirming," Mikasa whispered before kissing Eren on the forehead.

"Hey, who's the guy here?" Eren asked her, cringing at the thought that Mikasa wrapped her arms around him and cuddled with him like what most guys would do with their girlfriends. It was a reversal of roles.

"You are, but I loved you first," Mikasa purred to his ears before tightly wrapping her arms around him.

"Hey, hey, can't breathe!" he complained.

"Gomen, ne..."

"Say, Mikasa, when did you start liking me?" he asked.

And Mikasa told him it started on the day he wrapped the scarf around her. She did not know what the feeling that was, but she knew it was different from friendship. And even though they lived as foster sister and brother, she knew her feelings for him weren't sisterly at all. She just kept it to herself, knowing that everybody else might have something bad to say.

"And do you still look at me like a foster brother to you?" he asked her.

Mikasa whispered to his ears, "I can tell everyone that you are my foster brother, but in my heart, you are more than that."

"A lover, perhaps?" he teased her.

Mikasa blushed. The term "lover" sounded deeper than "boyfriend."

"Are we too young to be lovers?" she asked him.

"We are, yeah, but we are not too young to love," he said. "I cannot keep up with this pretense any longer, Mikasa. And I want you. I know you want me too."

"Eren..."

"Will you be my kanojo?" he asked her.

Mikasa, instead of answering, leaned down to kiss Eren on the lips. Eren did not need to decipher her answering, judging by the way she kissed him and the way she caressed his skin.

"She does love me, after all," he thought.

After the kiss, Mikasa nodded and kissed him, nose to nose, "Hai, I want to be your girlfriend, and you'll be my kareshi."

"Shall we tell Armin?" Eren asked her.

"Mochiron (of course)," Mikasa told him. "Let's not leave him in the dark."

"Let's also tell the whole class tomorrow that you are mine," Eren said with conviction, "And I am yours."

"Hai..."


	13. Chapter 13

Friday morning.

"You owe me a cooking session this afternoon, just as you promised," Eren said as he grabbed his school bag, which sitting comfortably on the couch.

"Ee," Mikasa replied with a subtle smile.

Eren's heart fluttered seeing her smile, because she rarely did. Maybe it was being in love that made her smile at him just like that, and only to him. It made Eren feel all the more special because Mikasa loves him and only him.

"Iku?" he asked her.

"Okay, let's go together, then," she replied as she held out her hand for him to hold.

Eren gladly took her hand and caressed her skin with her thumb. Even though Mikasa worked a lot, her skin was still smooth and silky. He probably should learn from her to use lotion every day.

~~.

It wasn't unusual to everyone that Mikasa and Eren came in together. The talk of the town was that Reiner was made being the dummy for Hange's monkey experiment, and Sasha laughed at him for bringing bananas to school everyday. Reiner tried to choke Sasha, but he was kicked on the knees again. Connie could only sigh in exasperation, for his BFF was literally still immature as ever.

Another talk of the town was Hange getting herself a boyfriend in the person of Moblit, a persistent suitor who wooed her despite her being erratic and weird.

"Yeah, damn right," Ymir dryly told everyone who heard her. "Hange-sempai should start dating now and use her heart more often."

"But what's between the ears are as important too," Connie told her.

"Follow your own advice, Connie," Ymir told Connie before earning her a growl from the short guy.

"Ah, stop that, will ya?" Jean growled before looking at his BFF Marco. "Right, Marco?"

"Yeah, you two should stop that already," Marco said in his usual mild manner.

Eren and Mikasa did not take notice of the chaos around them and proceeded to their respective seats. Armin, ever the perceptive one, noticed a change. He saw Eren smiling a bit at Mikasa, and the Asian girl nodding her head with a shy smile, like the two had some secret language.

"Can you let me in the loop?" Armin asked them as he approached his best friends.

"Ah, yeah, erm, we have something to tell you," Eren told Armin before looking at Mikasa.

Armin looked at his best friend before looking at the other best friend. He raised his eyebrows and grabbed Eren to Mikasa's table.

"What is it, Eren?" Armin asked. _(Not a pun to Jean's famous "What is it, Eren?" line in the manga. :3 )_

Eren turned and stared at his girlfriend, who blushed and blinked at him sweetly.

"Uh-oh, are the two of you...?" Armin asked.

"Yeah, Mikasa's my girlfriend now," Eren admitted, and Mikasa nodded.

Armin gaped, but then grinned like the Cheshire cat. "Hontou, hontou?"

Eren dropped a sweat and tried to explain, "Mikasa's... just a foster sister, after all, right Mikasa?"

"Ee."

"And it's not like, it's prohibited to date her. We're not siblings after all," Eren explained again, hoping Armin got it. Of course, he knew that Armin got it. Armin's smart, after all.

"Sugoi!" Armin exclaimed happily.

"Whose girlfriend is who?" Ymir suddenly blurted out from the back.

"Is it true, Eren?" Connie asked, unable to believe.

"I knew you two weren't acting as foster siblings!" Sasha cheered.

Eren and Mikasa were suddenly hounded with eager questions.

"But you two, the whole time, were having sibling feelings, eh?" asked one.

"But did you...?"

And more questions.

However, the fact that Mikasa is now Eren's girlfriend did not sit well with Jean. He was too damn jealous to even learn about it that he threw a fist on his table, making the table lose a leg in the process. Everybody heard the sound of a destroyed table and things falling off the floor.

"Is... is it true, Eren?" Jean asked, growled, his voice shivering.

All his hopes, all his dreams of being Mikasa's boyfriend went down the drain, just because she was now the girlfriend of her... her own foster brother? It doesn't seem right, and he knew it was wrong.

"Yes," Eren replied with conviction. "And I love Mikasa."

Jean's mind went blank, and his anger flared up even more. He strode towards Eren, grabbed his collar, and punched the poor guy, and Eren fell on the floor.

"And did you... Did you already f*** her? Did you enjoy her? Did you enjoy spending the night with her? Huh?"

Mikasa felt offended. Why was Jean insinuating like that? She suddenly felt like Eren and she had done something more last night when all she did to him was just to cuddle him. Eren, too, was very deeply offended. Why was Jean asking if Mikasa tasted nice and all that?

"Uh-oh, just as I thought," Ymir spoke to Krista. "Talks regarding something between the legs will never go undiscussed."

"Will you just shut it already, Ymir?" Krista scolded her before going out.

"Where are you going?" Ymir asked.

"To find Erwin-sempai!"

Eren got up from the floor and began to punch Jean to bits. Just hearing about such nonsensical stuff was too disgusting. And Mikasa was just hugging him last night, nothing more.

"F*** you, Jean!" Eren shouted at the top of his lungs. "You have no right to say something about Mikasa like that!"

"Oh yeah? Why not? Just admit it already, Jaeger, so I'll stop pursuing her!"

"Just quit pursuing her and just believe that nothing happened to us last night!" Eren screamed.

Mikasa sat on her seat, dumbstruck. Finally, Eren was fighting for her. And the first thing he fought for was fighting for her purity. She blushed again, knowing that Eren fought for her, and still knowing that nothing really happened last night. If she could just kick Jean and imprison him in a barn, that would be very much welcome. Meanwhile, the two guys ended up punching each other.

"What's the matter here?" a stern voice boomed.

Everyone jumped in their places. To their surprise, it was Erwin, and Mike and Nanaba were with him. Krista showed up from the back, and Jean gnashed his teeth in anger. Krista decided to tell them about the ruckus? How dare she!

"You know that public scandal is not allowed in school, no matter what form," Erwin said to the younger students. "Failure to abide by the law will get you a reprimand at first, and if this happens again, a call to your parents, then a suspension, then an expulsion, or a combination of any of these."

"A combination of what?" Nanaba's expression seemed to say.

"Who started the ruckus?" Erwin demanded.

Connie pointed at Jean, and Sasha pointed at Eren. Mike told the guys to follow him, and Eren and Jean, who were about to continue punching each other, were being held by Marco and Bertholdt.

"Follow us," Mike roared.

Before the super trio left, Erwin made another announcement.

"Uhm, does any of you play Clash of Clans?"

The first year students were shocked. What was that about?

"Is there a competition in school?" Reiner asked excitedly.

"No, I just need more dragons," Erwin said. "Care to join our clan if you have dragons?"

"I don't have a dragon yet, Sempai," Reiner replied.

"Well, forget it. I really need a dragon," Erwin replied before walking away with Mike, Nanaba, Marco, Bert, Eren, and Jean.

~~.

Hange saw the super trio going in the Students' Council's office, and she asked Moblit if anything happened for the two freshmen to be called.

"I think I heard a petite blonde call on Erwin some minutes ago," Moblit told her.

"Oooooh! I wonder if they could let me give my own punishment!" Hange said in glee as she danced rumba, much to Moblit's amusement, but much to Levi's annoyance.

"Hey, Shitty Glasses, the 'Dancing Queen' title really doesn't suit you," was Levi's rude remark.

"Oh, but dancing is exercise!" Hange smiled while continuing to dance.

"What is Erwin up to?" Levi asked.

"Punishing the brats?" Hange replied before going away while dragging Moblit along.

"Poor Moblit," Levi thought. For the first time, he was being compassionate.

He thought that, should he get a girlfriend, he didn't want someone as lunatic as Hange. He was hoping still it would be Mikasa, without knowing that Mikasa already belonged to Eren.

~~.

 **Up next, the cooking session. But things are not going to get steamy, okay?**


End file.
